Heat Sterilization and Mating Competitiveness of the Sugarcane Gray Borer 1

Abstract

Male Eucosma schistaceana Snellen, held at 32°C for 5 days during the pupal stage, were permanently sterilized. Although emergence was not affected, mating was reduced by 50%. Females mated to heat-sterilized males produced fewer eggs with a higher percent unfertilized. In E. schistaceana , heat-induced sterility appeared to be the result of the inability of treated males to mate and successfully transfer sperm to the spermathecae of untreated females. Heat-sterilized males were less competlttve than untreated males in mating with females.