Wax Worm/P. larvae LD50

From 5-25-15.

I would like to see if the PH agar can be used to propagate newly hatched wax worms. A small clutch of wax worm eggs were placed in the center of PH agar plates, wrapped in Parafilm, and incubated (not inverted) at 30C.

Large petri plate with PH agar with small clutch of WW eggs in the center

Unfortunately, there was condensation on the PH agar plates and the eggs were underwater after 24 hours. The plates were dried in the biological safety cabinet, but I'm not sure if the eggs will survive. The plates were continued to incubate at 30C, however a number of the plates showed signs of fungal contamination after 48 hours. This is likely a result of the microwaving that was done to sterilize the media. I'm continuing to monitor the eggs on the agar to see if anything hatches.

Additional PH agar were made in order to repeat this study:

PH agar (125 mL)

2.5 g Agar

1.25 g Potato Flakes

2.5 g Honey

Agar was microwaved for a longer and more thorough period of time. PH agar was poured into small petri plates. The plates were left in the biological safety cabinet to remove condensation.

PH agar in small petri plates

Plates were left at room temperature to monitor for fungal growth before use.

//EWW