Disease prevention in caterpillars

Each week for four weeks, you will receive your course material for that week. A course online mailing list will provide means for classroom discussion. An insect pathologist is on stand-by to answer questions, if needed.

Week One covers:
 Breeding Stock
 Egg Production
 Signs and Symptoms of Disease
 Sanitation
 Disinfecting Eggs
 And More

Week Two covers:
 Disease Transmission
 Disease Triggers
 Breeding Stock
 Rearing Environment
 Sanitizing Eggs & Pupae
 Larvae Food
 Disease Disposal
 And More

Week Three covers:
 Specific Diseases
 Disinfecting recipe and directions
 Stain recipe and directions
 Nosema
 How to determine if your stock has these diseases
 Bacteria
 Fungi
 And more

Week Four covers:
 OE
 Parasitoids

If participants do not wish to take the quizzes and exams, no problem. They are required only for a Certificate of Completion.

Your final exam will be emailed to you. All participants who correctly returns the vocabulary words, passes the weekly quizzes, and passes the final exam will be issued certification for completion of the course. Any answer which is incorrect will be returned for correction. A participant cannot fail unless he/she refuses to make corrections when the answers are returned, marked incorrect. The whole purpose is to learn!

Technical assistance was provided, and the course was edited by Ms. Amanda Lawrence and Leellen Solter PhD, Insect Pathologists.

Ms. Lawrence and Dr. Solter are two of the three insect pathologists who graciously agreed to be Consultants for the Association for Butterflies. These two pathologists offered to answer questions which arise at any time during the year. The AFB’s designated spokesperson gathers questions from course participants during the course, sending the questions to one or more of these two professionals when disease discussion reaches a point where additional information is needed.

Week four, focusing on OE, was edited by Dr. Sonia Altizer and Dr. Karen Oberhauser.

Please join us!