Insect Puparium Removal: A Method for Pupal Investigation

Published: April 30, 2023

Abstract

Source: Fukutomi, Y., et al. Methods for Staging Pupal Periods and Measurement of Wing Pigmentation of Drosophila guttifera. J. Vis. Exp. (2018).

This article describes a technique to remove an insect’s puparium while keeping the inside pupa intact and therefore fit for further investigation. The example protocol shows the procedure with Drosophila guttifera; however, this technique is applicable to other Drosophila species.

Protocol

This protocol is an excerpt from Fukutomi et al., Methods for Staging Pupal Periods and Measurement of Wing Pigmentation of Drosophila guttifera, J. Vis. Exp. (2018). 1. Removing puparium NOTE Pupae of Drosophila are covered by a structure called the puparium. An insect of Muscomorpha (flies) does not shed its larval cuticle at pupation; instead, …

Representative Results

Figure 1. Illustration of removing puparium. (A) Place a pupa ventral side up on a piece of double-sided tape. Remove the anterior part of the puparium. (B) Break the puparium with forceps from the ventral side. (C) After breaking the puparium, take out the pupa using a paintbrush.

Declarações

The authors have nothing to disclose.

Materials

Drosophila guttifera The Drosophila Species Stock Center at the U.C. San Diego 15130-1971.10 Drosophila guttifera,  a fruit fly species used in this article
NICETACK double sided tape Nichiban NW-15SF Double sided tape,   for removing puparium
Dumont #5 forceps Fine Science Tools 11252-20 Forceps,  for removing puparium
Van Gogh VISUAL Paint brush Talens Japan GWVR-#5/0 Paint brush,  for removing puparium
Stereomicroscope Olympus SZX16 Stereomicroscope,  for morphological observation
Digital camera Olympus DSE-330-A Digital camera,  for imaging
Falcon standard tissue culture dish Corning 353002 Plastic Petri dish (diameter 60 mm x height 15 mm)

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Citar este artigo
Insect Puparium Removal: A Method for Pupal Investigation. J. Vis. Exp. (Pending Publication), e20048, doi: (2023).

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