Simple Method for Marking Small Adult Moths with Fluorescent Dyes

Abstract

Preliminary experiments for marking adult diamond-back moths with 7 coloured and 10 fluorescent dyes were carried out in the laboratory and field cages. Two fluorescent dyes, Rhodamine-B and Uvitex-OB were found to be most suitable as markers among the 17 dyes tested in relation to the survival rates and proportion of marked moths. Other small moths, for example, the cabbage webworm were successfully marked with these two dyes.