High throughput insect testing
EntoLab
Looking for a tool to speed up insect or plant screening? EntoLab is a computerized system for automated high-throughput screening of insect behavior, validated for many insect-plant combinations.
- Up to 90% reduction in time and costs of screening
- High throughput: run up to 300 trials simultaneously
- Complete hardware and software solution
Developed in collaboration with
How does EntoLab work?
Screening plants for resistance to insects can be a tedious process, including assessing feeding
damage, counting offspring and survival, and measuring development time, all done through visual
rating and scoring by human observers. This has multiple drawbacks: it is labor-intensive, and thus
costly, time-consuming, imprecise and subjective. The same holds for screening pesticides or
beneficial insects.
EntoLab is a complete system, consisting of an observation chamber
with video camera, illuminators, and assay plates containing no-choice and 2-choice arenas.
Assay plates can be filled with substrates (leaf discs, solutions) or placed as a template on top of e.g. intact plant leaves. Behavior is recorded using EthoVision XT video tracking software. Tracks are subsequently imported into EthoAnalysis software for computation of a wide range of end-points, resulting in informative graphical and statistical reports.
EntoLab observation chamber
With EntoLab, you can standardize your test environment, including multi-arena assay plates and illumination, and collect your data efficiently. The EntoLab Observation Chamber is designed in such a way to maximize image quality, reliability of tracking and throughput. Furthermore, the EntoLab hardware is easy to use and clean.
Powered by EthoVision XT and EthoAnalysis
EntoLab is powered by EthoVision XT video tracking software
(included). This powerful software provides you with accurate detection of your insects and
high-throughput tracking in up to 300 trials simultaneously. Featured in over 22,000 publications
and used by more than 2,500 labs worldwide, EthoVision XT is the most validated video tracking
system available.
EntoLab comes with EthoAnalysis, a software package specifically designed for the analysis of insect behavior. EthoAnalysis automatically computes over >30 behavioral parameters and delivers statistics per hour or qualitatively into a behavior range.
What can I use EntoLab for?
EntoLab can be used for a variety of applications. Any tests that require the tracking of insects. From investigating the insect resistance of certain plant strains to phenotyping the behavior of beneficial insects. With EntoLab you can test heat tolerance, the effect of toxic compounds or memory and learning of various insect species.
How do I use EntoLab?
EntoLab is an integrated software/hardware system consisting of a compact observation chamber and a comprehensive software package. On our setup page we explain how the software and hardware interact and how you can setup your EntoLab experiment.
Don't know where to start?
We're happy to help
Book a meeting for an online or onsite session.
Together, we can discuss you research requirements and come up with the best solution!