Has anyone successfully shipped live larvae in the winter? Have you tried using body warmers to keep a cooler warm enough for an overnight shipment? Does it get too hot?
I am planning to start a colony of midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae). We would like to have a shipment sent by overnight delivery, but have concerns about the midges freezing in transit. They are small (< 1 mm).
We have shipped Drosophila larvae in diet by FedEx Priority Overnight packed with slow release heat packs. This has worked well to get flies shipped in mid-winter between Michigan and Minnesota when outside temperatures were well below freezing. With permits.
No problem. Just add a few room temperature cold packs within a styrofoam shipper to provide thermal mass. I hope you have the right permits!
Have never tried it, but if it is only overnight, then a thermos flask or, better, dish, should do the trick? Pack the insects in at room temperature, then wrap with lots of layers of bubble pack to insulate it better. that should work unless temperature is REALLY low.
Agreed - we ship the same way as Richard suggests above - you can also put max-min thermometers in the pack to monitor what the temp was during transit
We have shipped Drosophila larvae in diet by FedEx Priority Overnight packed with slow release heat packs. This has worked well to get flies shipped in mid-winter between Michigan and Minnesota when outside temperatures were well below freezing. With permits.
Hi, for spiders we use heatpacks. I think you can ship your midges with heatpacks. Cheers, Nadine
Hi Yolanda
We typically use styrofoam shipping boxes put inside of a double cardboard box. The key is to have enough grain in the sample so the insects can move into the mass as it gets cooler. We ship insects in 1 -2 kg samples,.I make the assumption that, as mentioned, the package will only be in transit overnight or at most, a couple of days. Hot packs could also be added if you believe the insects are not acclimated. I liked the idea of the thermos too. We will ship samples with insects regularly (domestically) with ambient temperatures of -25C.
Best of luck
Phase Change Material works really well too if you have some handy. It tends to work better than heat packs because you don't need to worry about overheating either. Insulation helps do, but don't forget to think about CO2 buildup as a possible problem if you shipping container is really tight.
Thanks everyone! Given that it is about -9 F or -22 C outside today in Vermont, US, we need some additional protection!
Out of curiousity, we are going to experiment with the heat packs and ice packs for thermal mass by sticking a themacouple in it and leaving it overnight. The main issue is the temperature differential between the inside of the cooler and the outside. So tonight will be a good night to try!
For Diptera is better to try with poupae instead of larvae. Pack the poupae in at room temperature and use a thermos flask for expedition.
Heat packs or some sort of room temp. large thermal mass. Then lots of insulation!
A late answer: The Styrofoam parcels from biotechnology companies (e.g. for shipping enzymes at low temps) are a good choice since they have sufficient space for heating/cooling packages, have enough insulation and close very tightly.
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