Harvesting insects from intensive agricultural settings

Sunday, November 13, 2022

1:50 PM – 2:05 PM PT

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, Meeting Room 205

Presenting Author(s)

LC

Lee W. Cohnstaedt

Research Epidemiologist
USDA-ARS
Manhattan, Kansas

Co-author(s)

SS

Sabrina Swistek

Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, Mississippi
KV

Kortnee VanDonge

Kansas State University
Manhattan, Kansas
Phillip Shults

Research Entomologist
USDA-ARS
Manhattan, Kansas
AC

Alexandra Chaskopoulou

USDA-ARS
Thessaloniki, Greece
AD

Annie Donoghue

USDA-ARS
PJ

Palmy Jesudhasan

USDA-ARS
Brenda Oppert

USDA-ARS
Manhattan, Kansas

Mosquitoes and flies are at best nuisances and at worst pathogen carriers. Farming insects for food and feed is not novel, but harvesting them from intensive agricultural settings where they are naturally abundant to use as a protein supplement for animal feed is a new way to recycle them. This presentation will discuss a novel economical suction trap for massive collection and storage of insects as well as some of the food safety concerns with using harvested insects from animal farms and crop settings. Major hurdles such as cost considerations, ease of use, and user acceptance will also be discussed.