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Our insectarium is the only facility in North America that rears multiple forest insect species and the only one in the world that mass-produces spruce budworm.

The majority of our resources are dedicated to the production of diapause and non-diapause strains of spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana, with an annual production of ~3.5 million larvae.

The Insect Production Services team is flexible in that we can respond to changing needs of the pest management research community by varying our inventory of species reared. We will consider new colonies when there is a link to Canadian Forest Service priorities and if a multi-user client base is involved. Our current colony inventory includes:

1. spruce budworm (diapause strain), Choristoneura fumiferana
2. spruce budworm (non-diapause strain), Choristoneura fumiferana
3. western spruce budworm, Choristoneura occidentalis
4. fir coneworm, Dioryctria abietivorella
5. rusty tussock moth, Orgyia antiqua
6. whitemarked tussock moth, Orgyia leucostigma
7. cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni
8. cottonwood borer, Plectrodera scalator