Abstract
Before its eradication from North America, the subtropical‐tropical new world screwworm fly Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel) invaded southwestern temperate areas of the U.S.A., where it caused myiasis in wildlife and livestock. Outbreaks of the fly occurred during years when adult migrants were carried northward on North American monsoon winds from the northern areas of Mexico and south Texas. We deconstruct, retrospectively, the biology and the effect of weather on the eradication of the fly in North America. Screwworm was found to be an ideal candidate for eradication using the sterile insect technique (SIT) because females mate only once, whereas males are polygynous, and, although it has a high reproductive potential, field population growth rates are low in tropical areas. In northern areas, eradication was enhanced by cool‐cold weather, whereas eradication in tropical Mexico and Central America is explained by the SIT. Despite low average efficacy of SIT releases (approximately 1.7%), the added pressure of massive SIT releases reduced intrinsically low fly populations, leading to mate‐limited extinction. Non‐autochthonous cases of myiasis occur in North America and, if the fly reestablishes, climate warming by 2045–2055 will expand the area of favourability and increase the frequency and severity of outbreaks.
Highlights
The new world screwworm fly Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel) is a subtropical-tropical species of the Americas (Baumhover, 2002; Comis et al, 2012; OIE, WorldOrganisation for Animal Health, 2013)
The fly was eradicated from North America to the Darien Gap in Panama (Wyss, 2000) using releases of large numbers of irradiated sterile flies targeting unmated adult females (Knipling, 1955), establishment of quarantine areas to prevent the introduction of infested animals, and chemical treatment of infested livestock that killed larval stages and possibly adults feeding on serous fluid in wounds (Laake, 1950; Klassen & Curtis, 2005)
The fly is endemic to the Caribbean and South America (Laake, 1950; Baumhover, 2002; Comis et al, 2012) and non-autochthonous cases of myiasis are occasionally reported in the U.S.A. (USDA-APHIS, United States Department of Agriculture – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, 2017a)
Summary
The new world screwworm fly Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel) is a subtropical-tropical species of the Americas (Baumhover, 2002; Comis et al, 2012; OIE, WorldOrganisation for Animal Health, 2013). Eradication efforts began in Florida in 1957 and in Texas in 1962, and subsequently progressed through. The fly is endemic to the Caribbean and South America (Laake, 1950; Baumhover, 2002; Comis et al, 2012) and non-autochthonous cases of myiasis are occasionally reported in the U.S.A. (USDA-APHIS, United States Department of Agriculture – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, 2017a).
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