Insect diagnostics, applied
Cucare Diagnostics,
your partner in insect science
Molecular diagnostics and contract research for insect producers, beekeepers and agrochemical companies. We find the pathogens that put insect colonies at risk, and we run the bioassays, genetic and molecular studies behind your next product.
Why we exist
Decades of research in insect science, now working for your business
Cucare Diagnostics is a spin-off of the University of Valencia, with decades of experience in insect health, insect genetics and pesticide resistance. Cucare was founded to take that knowledge out of the university laboratory and put it to work for the companies that rear, protect and depend on insects.
Cucare is a molecular diagnostics company and contract research organisation (CRO) specialising in insects, serving insect producers, beekeepers and agrochemical companies. Insect rearing, bioassays, molecular biology and bioinformatics sit under one roof, so a single team can take your question from the sample to the answer. Every project is designed around the client’s problem, so the result is evidence you can act on rather than guesswork.
About Cucare
Our services
From diagnosis to contract research: choose a service to see how we can help.
Contract Research
Genetic optimisation
Would you like to select an insect population for a specific trait, or do you have a candidate gene you want to work with? We bring hands-on experience in genetic selection and CRISPR genome editing in lepidopterans and dipterans such as the beet armyworm or the black soldier fly.
Learn more →Susceptibility & efficacy testing
Is your product still working in the field, or is a new compound ready to prove itself? Find out how your target pests really respond. Click to discover the species we work with.
Learn more →Toxicology assays
Developing a new plant protection product? Showing that it is safe for pollinators is a required step on the road to registration. We help you generate the data.
Learn more →Diagnostics
De novo pathogen screening
Are you facing high mortality in your insect rearing and don’t know why? We identify the cause, even when you don’t know what to look for. If you want to cut the cost of disease outbreaks, this service is for you.
Learn more →Pathogen detection and management
Monitoring and prevention are the keys to keeping disease out of your insect colonies. Know the health status of your production before symptoms appear, and act before losses do.
Learn more →Insect microbiome characterisation
Many labs can sequence a microbiome, but few specialise in insects. We work with insects every day, and we choose the technique (amplicon sequencing, metagenomics or metatranscriptomics) that fits your samples, your question and your budget.
Learn more →R&D
CRO services
Do you have an R&D project in mind but not the resources to carry it out? We can help. One team, from the insect to the data.
Learn more →Consulting
Need an expert view on colony health, pest resistance or insect genetics? Talk to active researchers, whenever you need them.
Learn more →Research projects
Preparing a research proposal in insect science? We are happy to join your consortium.
Learn more →Genetic optimisation
The challenge
Genetics is one of the most powerful levers for improving the productivity, robustness and value of reared insects, and a key tool for understanding the function of a gene. Yet developing an improved or edited line takes specialised skills at every step, from molecular design to insect handling and long-term rearing.
Our service
We work along two complementary lines. Selection and breeding: we identify and track genetic traits of interest with molecular markers, supporting selective breeding programmes while preserving genetic diversity. CRISPR genome editing: a complete process, not a single step. We cover the design of the guide RNAs, the preparation of the editing reagents, the microinjection of embryos, the rearing of the injected individuals, and the genetic analysis of the following generations to confirm that the edit has been introduced and is inherited, until a stable line is established.
Black soldier fly adults: wild type (left) and a CRISPR-edited mutant with altered pigmentation (right).
Let’s talk
Tell us the trait or the gene you have in mind. We will assess feasibility for your species and propose a project plan with clear milestones.
Susceptibility & efficacy testing
The challenge
When pest populations become less susceptible to a product, the consequences are extra applications, higher costs and lost crops. Knowing how susceptible each field population is, and how well a registered or candidate compound performs against it, is essential for choosing treatments, rotating modes of action and supporting product development.
Our service
We combine insect rearing and laboratory bioassays to measure the susceptibility of pest populations and the efficacy of your product. Our dose–response bioassays provide values such as lethal concentrations (LC50) and resistance ratios compared with susceptible references, and they can be complemented with molecular detection of known resistance mechanisms. Our team has long-standing experience in the ecology, evolution and molecular basis of pesticide resistance.
Two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) female with eggs on a leaf.
Case study
For an agrochemical client, we received infested plant material directly from commercial fields in several European locations. We established each pest population in our rearing facilities, and then ran bioassays with the client’s product. The result: a clear picture of the susceptibility of each field population and of the product’s efficacy against them, delivered in one report.
Let’s talk
Tell us which pest, crop and product you are interested in, and we will design a testing programme adapted to your needs.
Toxicology assays
The challenge
Before a plant protection product can be authorised in the European Union, its risk to bees has to be assessed. Current EFSA guidance covers not only honey bees but also bumblebees and solitary bees. Generating reliable data early in development helps avoid surprises later in the regulatory process.
Our service
We perform laboratory bioassays to evaluate the effects of candidate compounds on beneficial insects such as the honey bee (Apis mellifera). These can be complemented with molecular studies of how the compound is metabolised by the insect, which helps to explain differences in toxicity between species and compounds.
Let’s talk
There is no single design that fits every product. We will discuss with you the most suitable species, exposure route and endpoints for your development stage and regulatory needs.
De novo pathogen screening
The challenge
Disease in insect rearing often starts silently. By the time mortality, slower growth or failed pupation become visible, a pathogen may already have spread through the colony. Finding the cause is rarely simple: viruses, bacteria, fungi and microsporidia can produce similar symptoms, and some infections remain covert for generations before an outbreak.
Our service
De novo pathogen screening does not require you to know in advance which pathogen to test for. We sequence the genetic material present in healthy and affected insects using high-throughput sequencing, and analyse it with our bioinformatic pipelines against curated reference databases. This detects viruses, bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms, including agents never described before in your species. You receive a clear report with the agents detected, their relative abundance, which of them are most likely linked to the problem, and recommended next steps for control and follow-up monitoring.
Black soldier fly larvae from a healthy batch (left) and larvae affected by a pathogenic bacterium (right), showing reduced size.
Let’s talk
Every outbreak is different. Tell us what you are observing in your rearing, and we will propose a sampling and analysis plan adapted to your species, your facility and your budget.
Pathogen detection and management
The challenge
Once a pathogen of concern is known, the priority becomes keeping it under control. That means testing regularly at a cost that makes routine monitoring viable.
Our service
This service targets one or several specific pathogens with dedicated molecular assays (such as qPCR). Because the test is focused, a much larger number of insects can be analysed at a lower cost per sample than with sequencing-based approaches. By measuring pathogen presence and load over time, across batches or between rearing rooms, we help you detect infections before disease develops, check whether hygiene and management measures are working, and document the health status of the insects you sell, buy or exchange.
Lepidopteran larvae in a rearing container, with a diseased larva shown in the magnified inset.
Let’s talk
Each monitoring programme is built around your production: species, batch sizes, sampling frequency and the pathogens that matter to you. Contact us and we will design a monitoring plan tailored to your facility.
Insect microbiome characterisation
The challenge
The microorganisms that live in and on insects influence their nutrition, development and immunity, and even how they respond to pathogens and pesticides. Characterising them can explain why colonies, diets or populations perform differently. Getting reliable answers, however, depends on decisions that generalist sequencing providers rarely make for you: which tissues to sample, how to extract nucleic acids from insect material, and how to interpret the results in a biological context.
Our service
We start from the insect. We help you design the sampling, dissect specific tissues such as the gut when needed, extract DNA or RNA with protocols adapted to insects, and choose the most suitable strategy: amplicon sequencing (16S rRNA for bacteria, ITS for fungi) to describe community composition, shotgun metagenomics to explore functional potential, or metatranscriptomics to see which microorganisms are active. Bioinformatic analysis and interpretation are included.
Let’s talk
Tell us about your insects and what you want to learn from their microbiome, and we will recommend the most cost-effective approach.
CRO services
Start your project →The challenge
Research questions in crop protection, insect production and apiculture usually need several disciplines at once. Coordinating separate providers for rearing, bioassays, molecular work and data analysis is slow and costly, and important details can get lost between them.
Our service
Cucare covers the full stack in-house. Insect biology: colony rearing, handling of every developmental stage, and fine dissection of tissues such as brain, nerve cord or gut. Bioassays: efficacy, susceptibility and sublethal effects. Molecular biology: extraction of high-quality DNA, RNA and proteins, PCR and qPCR, and preparation of samples for sequencing. Sequencing and bioinformatics: genomics, transcriptomics and metagenomics, from raw data to interpreted results. A single scientific team designs the study, runs it and reports it.
Let’s talk
Tell us about your project, even if it is still an idea. We will reply with a proposal, a timeline and a quotation built around your objectives.
Consulting
The challenge
Not every question needs a laboratory project. Sometimes you need an informed second opinion: reviewing a rearing protocol, interpreting a test result, planning a resistance-management strategy or evaluating a new technology.
Our service
Our consultants are active researchers who combine academic depth with industry experience in insect pathology and diagnostics, pesticide resistance, insect genetics and genome editing, bacterial toxins and their resistance mechanisms, insect rearing, bioassay design, molecular biology and bioinformatics. Consulting is available per project or through a bag of hours: you buy a package of hours up front and use them in online meetings with our team whenever you need them, without negotiating a new contract for each question.
Let’s talk
Tell us what you need and we will recommend the format, a specific project or a bag of hours, that fits you best.
Research projects
Our service
Cucare takes part in collaborative R&D projects in any area of insect science, including insect health, insect production, pest management, pesticide resistance and insect genetics. We can join consortia as a company partner in Spanish, European and international calls, contributing laboratory capacity, specialised know-how and a route to application. Contact us early in the preparation of your proposal.
Who we are
A team of insect scientists
Cucare Diagnostics is a science and technology-based company born at the University of Valencia, bringing together specialists in insect pathology, pesticide resistance and diagnostic development.
Meet the team
Luis Hernández Pelegrín
CTO
Postdoctoral researcher supported by a Torres Quevedo grant. His research focuses on insect health, particularly insect–pathogen interactions and disease diagnosis.
Anabel Millán Leiva
Administrator
Postdoctoral researcher. Her research focuses on insect science, with an emphasis on pest management.
Luis Benavent Albarracín
Researcher
Postdoctoral researcher supported by a Torres Quevedo grant. His research focuses on insecticide resistance, introgression and CRISPR genome editing in insects.
Joel González Cabrera
Scientific advisor
Associate Professor at the Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BIOTECMED), University of Valencia. Expert in sustainable crop protection, with a focus on the ecology and evolution of pesticide resistance.
Salvador Herrero Sendra
Scientific advisor
Professor at the University of Valencia. Expert in insect health and insect genetics.
Did you know?
As insect farming scales up for food, feed and pet-care markets, routine diagnostic screening is becoming essential infrastructure, helping producers catch problems long before they threaten a colony.
In the 2000s, a single virus, Acheta domesticus densovirus, caused mass mortality in commercial cricket farms across Europe and North America, and forced some producers to switch to other cricket species.
An insect’s microbiome influences its digestion, development and immunity, and some gut bacteria can even break down insecticides, making their host resistant.
CRISPR genome editing has already been achieved in the black soldier fly, opening the door to insect strains designed for the needs of industrial rearing.
More than 600 arthropod species have evolved resistance to at least one pesticide, according to the Arthropod Pesticide Resistance Database.
Latest from the lab
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Get in touch
Tell us about your challenge
Unexplained losses in your rearing, a pest that no longer responds to treatment, a compound to test or a research idea to develop: whatever brings you here, write to us. Describe your situation in a few lines and our scientific team will get back to you to discuss a solution tailored to your case.
Frequently asked questions
Which insect species do you work with?
We work with insects reared for food and feed, such as the black soldier fly, with honey bees and other beneficial insects, and with agricultural pests including mites, lepidopterans and dipterans. If your species is not one we have worked with before, tell us about it: in most cases our methods can be adapted, and we will assess feasibility before starting.
What is the difference between de novo pathogen screening and pathogen detection?
De novo pathogen screening is the right choice when you do not know what is causing a problem: sequencing reveals every microorganism present, including unexpected or previously undescribed ones. Pathogen detection targets one or several known pathogens with specific molecular assays, which makes it faster and more economical for testing large numbers of insects. Many clients start with a screening to identify the cause and then use targeted detection for routine monitoring.
How do I send you samples?
Before you collect anything, we send you clear instructions: how many insects to sample, which stages or tissues to include, how to preserve them and how to ship them so that the genetic material arrives in good condition. For bioassays with field pest populations, we explain how to collect and send live material.
Do you work with clients outside Spain?
Yes. We work with companies and research groups internationally. Shipping requirements depend on the origin and the type of material, and we will advise you on them for each project.
How long does it take to get results?
It depends on the service. Targeted molecular tests are usually the fastest, sequencing-based analyses take longer, and bioassays on field populations also depend on the time needed to establish the insects in our rearing facilities. Every proposal includes an estimated timeline, so you know when to expect results before you commit.
How much does a service cost?
Each project is quoted individually, because the cost depends on the species, the number of samples and the analyses required. Tell us what you need and we will send you a quotation tailored to your case. For ongoing advice, the consulting bag of hours offers a flexible, predictable option.
What will I receive at the end of the project?
A clear report with the results, their interpretation and practical recommendations, written to be useful for decision-making rather than only for specialists. Where relevant, the underlying data (for example, sequencing data) can also be delivered, and we are happy to review the report with you in an online meeting.
Are my samples and results confidential?
Yes. We treat all samples, data and results as confidential, and we can sign a confidentiality agreement before you share the details of your project.
Can you design a study that is not on your list of services?
Yes. Our services are a starting point, not a closed catalogue. As a contract research organisation, we design studies around specific questions, combining insect rearing, bioassays, molecular biology and bioinformatics as each project requires.
Can you support us after the results are delivered?
Yes. We can set up a monitoring programme to track a pathogen over time, repeat susceptibility tests in later seasons, or advise you through our consulting service while you put the recommendations into practice.