The MWI Animal Health Entomology Laboratory
By MWI Animal Health
MWI’s Technical Services group and AmerisourceBergen opened this 1,200-square-foot facility in the fall of 2016. The lab includes three dedicated insect rearing and chemical treatment rooms that allow for the testing of insecticide efficacy and resistance.
Key services provided by the lab
- Testing of darkling beetles and house flies for resistance or susceptibility to commercial insecticides
- Developing and testing new insecticides in cooperation with product vendors and manufacturers.
- Identifying arthropod specimens and providing accurate biological and control information to livestock producers.
The laboratory is staffed by full-time Entomology Technician Paul Wilson and is led by MWI Entomologist and Parasitologist Manager Dr. Mike Catangui, PhD, who brings more than 30 years of broadly respected experience in livestock insect ecology and control.
Our entomology staff leads the nation in design of multispecies insect resistance methodology, collection of year-over-year pesticide susceptibility results, and translating in vitro laboratory results into practical field recommendations of product chemistries and equipment.
Working closely with pesticide manufacturers who service the animal health industry, MWI is a technical and business partner helping to bring innovation to livestock customers and to ensure that chemistries available today will be cost-efficient and effective against insect disease vectors for many years to come.
The overuse of certain pesticide classes and misuse of pesticides has led to pesticide resistance in many pest populations. Unfortunately there are only a handful of classes to choose between when it comes to animal production facilities. At MWI Animal Health, we understand both the need for insecticide application to maintain optimal operating efficiency, while maintaining insecticide efficacy through resistance management.
How it works
Your MWI territory manager will arrive at your facility and collect an insect sample or a sampling protocol will be provided in order for you to submit your own sample. Once the sample arrives at our lab, the insects undergo one week of resistance testing to a wide range of insecticides. We provide custom, specific data results back to each customer in order to help make economical and responsible decisions on the most effective and efficient insecticide rotation. In order to determine which chemical class will be most effective at this time for an insect, we recommend contacting your MWI Animal Health territory manager to have your insects tested in our lab at least once per year.
