Live insects have been shipped from the Belleville laboratory for many years by rail in wooden chests insulated with cork, lined with metal and cooled with natural ice. These chests were cumbersome and had to be re-iced en route or heavy mortality resulted. In 1959, a more reliable method was developed for shipping adult Aphidoletes thompsoni Moehn (Diptera: Cecidomyjidae), a predator of the balsam woolly aphid, Adelges piceae (Ratz.) (Homoptera: Aphididae) by air express. It incorporates the use of a lightweight container and a patented coolant in cans. Although it was developed specifically for A. thompsoni it was also used successfully for shipping other species.