Generally, a sieve can be formed of a wire or plastic mesh held in a frame. The sieve can be used for straining solids from liquid or for separating coarser objects from finer objects.
Among those objects that can be separated are insects. Other devices shave been designed to separate insects such as a device that includes parallel glass plates. The reasons for separating insects are various. For example, as part of a Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) program, male insects may be separated from female insects. Depending on the program, separation may be performed at one or more stages of insect development. For example, insects having an aqueous pupal stage may be separated while in the pupal stage.
Use of conventional mesh screens to separate pupae may create challenges given the physiological structures of the pupae. Additionally, use of devices including parallel glass plates may create challenges given their difficulty to operate and required user interaction. These challenges may result in prohibitively low throughput and similarly low yield.
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