Abstract
BackgroundThe mass rearing of insects requires a large colony from which individuals can be harvested for sterilization and release. Attention is given to larval food requirements and to handling and rearing conditions to ensure predictability and synchrony of development. Maximizing production requires optimized adult holding to ensure mating success, blood feeding and oviposition. Appropriate egg storage and harvesting is necessary to compensate any unpredicted reduction in egg production.MethodsAnopheles arabiensis eggs were collected on wet filter paper in eggs cups. The eggs were cleaned and then dried over a suction device with adjustable speed and time. The effects of drying, storage time and storage condition (wet, dry and bulk with relative humidity 75 ± 5% and storage temperatures of 10, 15 and 20°C) on hatch rate, duration of larval stages (L1 to pupal stage), duration of L1 to adult emergence, survival of L1 to pupal stage and the survival of L1 to adult emergence were investigated. Post drying and post storage hatch rates were determined by counting hatched and unhatched eggs and were confirmed by counting the viable larvae in the rearing medium.ResultsThe hatch rate of eggs dried at wind speeds of 1.0 or 1.8 m/s was not significantly different from the control, but eggs dried at 3.0 m/s resulted in very low (64%) hatchability as compared to the control (82%). Eggs stored at 20°C and 75 ± 5% RH in bulk in an aerated vial showed better survival than eggs stored in wet or dry conditions at 10 or 15°C. No significant changes in larval duration and survival were recorded after six days of bulk storage.ConclusionAnopheles arabiensis eggs can be stored in bulk at 20°C and 75 ± 5% RH for six days without any decrease in hatch rate, and up to 9 days with no impact on larval development.
Highlights
The mass rearing of insects requires a large colony from which individuals can be harvested for sterilization and release
The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a species-specific and environmentally friendly method of insect pest control based on the release of large numbers of sterile insects [1]
The Tropical Medicine Research Institute in Sudan, with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has initiated a study to assess the feasibility of integrating the SIT for the area wide control of the important malaria vector Anopheles arabiensis along the Nile River in Northern State, Sudan
Summary
The mass rearing of insects requires a large colony from which individuals can be harvested for sterilization and release. Mass-reared (male) insects exposed to ionizing radiation prior to release transfer their sterile sperm to wild females during mating, causing a reduction in the fertility of the female target population resulting in a progressive decline of the pest population. To control An. arabiensis in Sudan, the production of one million An. arabiensis sterile males per day is anticipated [4]. To achieve this goal and obtain a sustainable and affordable production, the Insect Pest Control Laboratory (IPCL) of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture has been supporting this project with the development of low cost diets [5,6], massrearing equipment and optimized rearing protocols [7]. A larval rearing unit composed of a rack containing 50 trays, a larvae-pupae separator [8] and an adult massrearing cage [9] have been developed and evaluated for An. arabiensis and are being transferred to field projects for further validation under operational conditions
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