Sunday, 17 November 2002 - 10:12 AM
0113

This presentation is part of : Ten-Minute Papers, Subsection Cd. Behavior and Ecology (Session 1)

Insects as sentinels for detecting biohazards of human importance in the environment

Karen M. Kester, C. Britt Raymond, Kendra Lawrence, and Jaime Fuest. Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Biology, Life Sciences Building, 1000 W. Cary Street, Richmond, VA

As insects engage in normal foraging activities, they gather information about the environment. By relating behavioral and ecological attributes associated with selected insects to climatic data, these insects can be used to detect and predict sources of biological or chemical agents of human importance. We report the results of related field and laboratory experiments involving the use of insects for detection of an anthrax surrogate, Bacillus subtilis.

Keywords: biohazard detection, biosentinels

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