Techniques of Marking Insects with Micronized Fluorescent Dust with Especial Emphasis on Marking Millions of Lygus hesperus for Dispersal Studies

In the past decade micronized fluorescent dusts have become commercially available at low cost. Nine of these pigments produced by Helecon Luminescent Pigments, Radelin Division, U.S. Radium Corp., Morristown, New Jersey, were tested to evaluate their effectiveness in marking 8 insect species. Pigments no, 2267, 1757, and 1953 were found to be far superior to the others tested in marking the selected species. Because there are no human safety problems involved, and detection equipment is relatively inexpensive, the pigment can be a useful tool in entomological research. Pigment no. 2267 was widely tested in the field. It was used in marking millions of Lygus hesperus Knight adults in 19 dispersal studies while manipulating the environment to control Lygus movements. This paper gives an evaluation of marking and adherence qualities of the dusts and techniques and equipment used in these marking studies.