hello,

my name is Daniel Read and I am doing a PhD at Cardiff Universtiy. The topic i am investigating is the sustainable use of nematode biopesticides within soil ecosystems. For this i need to obtain a relatively large number of vine weevil larvae (Otiorhynchus sulcatus) and Garden chafer larvae (phyllopertha horticola). Does anyone have any suggestions as to where abouts i may begin collecting these from? i dont have access to my own garden, so it makes collecting problematic. If anyone has infestations of these organisms, i would be very grateful if they could send me any they may have. I will recompensate postage and packing. My address is:

Daniel Read
Cardiff School of Biosciences
Main Building
Museum Avenue
PO Box 915
Cardiff CF10 3TL

and e-mail is .

Thank you.

Dan Read.

The topic i am investigating is the sustainable use of nematode
biopesticides within soil ecosystems. For this i need to obtain a
relatively large number of vine weevil larvae (Otiorhynchus sulcatus)
and Garden chafer larvae (phyllopertha horticola
If anyone has infestations of these organisms, i would be very grateful
if they could send me any they may have. I will recompensate postage
and packing.

Well that's unusual for a gardening group! Someone who WANTS pests instead
of how to get rid of them.

If you don't get any in the post, why don't you try Cardiff Council's Parks
department. They are responsible for large areas and open spaces that might
be infested. Or will have local horticultural knowledge to pass on.

Cardiff County Council
Highways and Parks
Operational Manager (Parks)
2 Alexandra Gate
Ffordd Pengam
Cardiff
CF24 2SA

( 029 2084000 )

Good Luck!
Suzanne

"danread" wrote in message
s.com...
hello,

my name is Daniel Read and I am doing a PhD at Cardiff Universtiy. The
topic i am investigating is the sustainable use of nematode
biopesticides within soil ecosystems. For this i need to obtain a
relatively large number of vine weevil larvae (Otiorhynchus sulcatus)
and Garden chafer larvae (phyllopertha horticola). Does anyone have any
suggestions as to where abouts i may begin collecting these from? i
dont have access to my own garden, so it makes collecting problematic.
If anyone has infestations of these organisms, i would be very grateful
if they could send me any they may have. I will recompensate postage
and packing. My address is:

Daniel Read
Cardiff School of Biosciences
Main Building
Museum Avenue
PO Box 915
Cardiff CF10 3TL

and e-mail is .

A cynical word of caution :-)
I would recommend that anyone contemplating sending boxes of vine weevils to
the postal address first write (not email) to confirm that this is a genuine
request.
Students sometimes have an unusual sense of humour :-)))

Cheers
Dave R

P.S. Isn't it a bit late in the year to find active vine weevil? Getting
frosty most places.
This could be a major problem for a University project - by the time there
is a good supply it will be near the end of the academic year.

In article , David W.E.
Roberts writes


A cynical word of caution :-)
I would recommend that anyone contemplating sending boxes of vine weevils to
the postal address first write (not email) to confirm that this is a genuine
request.
Students sometimes have an unusual sense of humour :-)))

Not just students ;-)

Many years ago, so I'm told, one of the Keepers (big bosses) at the
Natural History Museum was a keen beekeeper and had a couple of hives on
the Museum roof. It was the delight of junior staff to parcel up any
bees they found around the museum into a matchbox and post them through
the internal post back to the Keeper.

Bees do not like being confined in a matchbox for 24 hours or so, and
are very cross when released :-)
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

Hello,

Thanks for your suggestion suzanne, i will try to contact cardiff county council.

David,

I can understand your caution when dealing with requests like this, but i can assure you its true. You're right, it is getting rather late in the year to be dealing with things like this, but the start date for PhDs is usually beginning to mid october, so i have to work fast or i can't start this aspect of the project until next year. If anyone wishes to contact a member of cardiff university to confirm this, my supervisers web page is found at:
http://www.cf.ac.uk/biosi/research/b...taff/wocs.html
If you e-mail him he will confirm the truth of this project.

Thank you,

Daniel Read.