Cytological Attributes of Sperm Bundles Unique to F1Progeny of Irradiated Male Lepidoptera: Relevance to Sterile Insect Technique Programs

Abstract

ABSTRACT The unique genetic phenomena responsible for inherited F1 sterility in Lepidoptera and some other arthropods provide advantages for the use of inherited sterility in a sterile insect technique (SIT) program. Lepidopteran females generally can be completely sterilized at a dose of radiation that only partially sterilizes males of the same species. When these partially sterile males mate with fertile females, many of the radiation-induced deleterious effects are inherited by the F1 generation. At the appropriate dose of radiation, egg hatch of females mated with irradiated males is reduced and the resulting (F1) offspring are both highly sterile and predominantly male. Lower doses of radiation used to induce F1 sterility increase the quality and competitiveness of the released insects. However, during a SIT program it is possible that traps used to monitor wild moth populations and over-flooding ratios (marked released males vs unmarked wild males) may capture unmarked F1 sterile males that cannot ...