Using Visible Implant Elastomer to tag insects across life stages: a preliminary investigation with blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Moffatt, Colin

doi:10.4039/tce.2013.18

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…It is plausible that some larvae may have been injured during the tagging operation, though did not appear so in the period immediately afterwards. Tagged insects exude a liquid from the entry point of the syringe needle, which makes all appear damaged initially (Moffatt 2013). Injury may have reduced the ability of the larvae to locomote to some degree, and so modified their movements within the aggregation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Through regular observation of the developing larvae, the time when more than half of an aggregation had reached third instar was identified, whereupon four individuals were randomly selected and removed. These larvae were injected with visible implant elastomer (Northwest Marine Technology, Anacortes Washington, United States of America) in the 11th segment, dorsally in the midline between two tissue masses (Moffatt 2013). Each of the four was injected with a different fluorescent colour, which under ultraviolet (black) light makes it easier to see the tag.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further quantitative data are called for, by a less disruptive, more realistic approach, though this presents its own challenges as demonstrated by the shortage of such studies in the literature. (Moffatt 2013). VIE is a brightly coloured, bio-compatible elastomer material, which when injected into translucent animal tissues, cures to form a gelatinous internal tag.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The aim of the study presented herein was to quantify the movement of individual larvae within aggregations of the blow fly L. sericata using a relatively new tagging technique, and therefore, generate scientifically robust, replicated data. Visible implant elastomer has been successfully used to tag blow fly larvae such that individuals could be tracked within an aggregation in real time (Moffatt 2013). Visible implant elastomer is a brightly coloured, biocompatible elastomer material, which when injected into translucent animal tissues, cures to form a gelatinous internal tag.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Visible implant elastomer is a brightly coloured, biocompatible elastomer material, which when injected into translucent animal tissues, cures to form a gelatinous internal tag. Using this technique, blow fly larvae were tagged without impediment to subsequent development in the 80% of larvae that survived the process (Moffatt 2013). For this research several visible-implant-elastomer-tagged individuals were observed for each mass, after having spent only a short time away from it.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The movement of fly (Diptera) larvae within a feeding aggregation

2018

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Dipteran larvae from a number of families feed in aggregations. Rotation of blow fly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) larvae within an aggregation has been reported anecdotally many times. However, there is a lack of quantitative data on such larval movement, which is necessary to better understand the advantage of this gregarious behaviour. A recent development in tagging methods provided an opportunity to address this gap in knowledge. In 15 aggregations of 500 Lucilia sericata (Meigen) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) larvae, the location of four-tagged individuals was recorded at 10-minute intervals. All larvae were seen to rotate, alternating between the periphery and within. There was much variation in the relative proportions that larvae were seen in these two locations among aggregations (χ2=78.4, df=58, P=0.038), perhaps as a result of differences in mass shape and, therefore, surface area: volume ratio. There were also differences between larvae within aggregations (χ2=25.6, df=14, P=0.029), which may give rise to differences in development rate, perhaps as a result of intraspecific competition. Further work would be required to verify this competition, and to establish whether the limited resource is temperature, food, oxygen, or some other requirement.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The movement of fly (Diptera) larvae within a feeding aggregation

2018

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Marking through molts: An evaluation of visible implant elastomer to permanently mark individuals in a lower termite species

Padget

Thompson

2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Advances in individual marking methods have facilitated detailed studies of animal populations and behavior as they allow tracking of individuals through time and space. Hemimetabolous insects, representing a wide range of commonly used model organisms, present a unique challenge to individual marking as they are not only generally small‐bodied, but also molt throughout development, meaning that traditional surface marks are not persistent. Visible implant elastomer (VIE) offers a potential solution as small amounts of the inert polymer can be implanted under the skin or cuticle of an animal. VIE has proved useful for individually marking fish, crustaceans, and amphibians in both field and laboratory studies and has recently been successfully trialed in laboratory populations of worms and fly larvae. We trialed VIE in the single‐piece nesting termite Zootermopsis angusticollis, a small hemimetabolous insect. We found that there was no effect of VIE on survival and that marks persisted following molting. However, we found some evidence that marked termites performed less allogrooming and trophallaxis than controls, although effect sizes were very small. Our study suggests that VIE is an effective technique for marking small hemimetabolous insects like termites but we advocate that caution is applied, particularly when behavioral observation is important.

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Long-term individual marking of small freshwater fish: the utility of Visual Implant Elastomer tags

Jungwirth

Balzarini

Zöttl

et al. 2019

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Tracking wild animals over long periods of time is a non-trivial challenge. This has caused a bias in the availability of individualbased long-term datasets with the majority including birds and mammals. Visual Implant Elastomer (VIE) tags are now a widely used technique that may facilitate the collection of such data for fish and amphibians. However, VIE tags might have important drawbacks. Overall, four potential issues with VIE tags have been proposed: tag loss or misidentification, limited number of individual identifiers, enhanced mortality risk, and effects on intra-specific interactions. Here, we present three experiments in which we investigated these potential problems with VIE tagging in small freshwater fish both in the laboratory and in the wild, using the cooperatively breeding Lake Tanganyika cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher. We find VIE tags to be generally suitable for work with these fish as they did not impair survival, were recognisable up to 2 years after injection, and did not generally disturb group formation. Nevertheless, we identify specific issues of VIE tagging, including colour-and position-dependent variation in tag identification rates, and indications that specific colours may influence social behaviour. Our results demonstrate the suitability of VIE tags for long-term studies on small freshwater fish, while also highlighting the need of validating this method carefully for any species and study. Significance statement Information on the survival, dispersal, and reproductive success of wild individuals across their lifespan is among the most valuable data in Behavioural Ecology. Because tracking of free-ranging individuals over extended periods of time is challenging, there exists a bias in the taxonomic distribution of such long-term datasets. Here, we investigate the suitability of visible implant elastomers (VIE) as a tracking technique to allow for the collection of such data also in small tropical freshwater fish. We show that VIE tags neither alter social behaviour in our study species, nor do they reduce survival, but they enable the tracking of wild individuals across years. We also identify colours and tag positions that are less suitable. We conclude that VIE tags can help produce long-term datasets also for small fish, provided certain precautions are met.

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Using Visible Implant Elastomer to tag insects across life stages: a preliminary investigation with blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Cited by 6 publications

References 13 publications

The movement of fly (Diptera) larvae within a feeding aggregation

The movement of fly (Diptera) larvae within a feeding aggregation

Marking through molts: An evaluation of visible implant elastomer to permanently mark individuals in a lower termite species

Long-term individual marking of small freshwater fish: the utility of Visual Implant Elastomer tags

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