Rearing the soil arthropod Folsomia candida (Collembola: Isotomidae) on agar plates and estimating biomass by protein staining with Ponceau S

Yang Grace Li, Ann M. Fallon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Folsomia candida Willem (Collembola: Isotomidae) is a common soil arthropod used in standardized toxicological testing. We describe a simple method for rearing Collembola on agar plates and evaluating toxicity in the absence of charcoal, which has potential detoxifying effects. We developed a quantitative method for determining biomass by reversible protein staining of hexane-treated Collembola with Ponceau S. Protein staining has advantages over photometric methods for enumerating Collembola, and agar substrate provides a simple medium for testing toxicity of water-soluble substances independent of soil composition. Using these protocols, the 50 % effective concentration (EC50) for the insecticide imidacloprid is ~0.2 µM, or 0.05 mg/kg agar substrate.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)489-494
Number of pages6
JournalApplied Entomology and Zoology
Volume51
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1 2016

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, St. Paul, MN. We appreciate helpful comments from anonymous reviewers. The authors have no conflicts to declare.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, The Japanese Society of Applied Entomology and Zoology.

Keywords

  • Charcoal
  • ISO standards
  • Imidacloprid
  • Spectrophotometry
  • Springtail

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