Mortality, Inherited Sterility and Phototactic Responses of Mosquitoes(Diptera:Culicidae)to Laser Beams of Different Spectra

Abstract

To evaluate the feasibility of using laser radiation for killing and inducing inherited sterility in male mosquitoes in the field. The heads or the genitalia of anesthetized Culex pipiens molestus were irradiated with a He/Cd (UV), He/Ne (red), and argon (blue and green) lasers at different doses (mW/m2 output power×irradiation time in s). The insects were kept in pairs with non-irradiated mosquitoes of either sex. The mortality of irradiated mosquitoes was dose-dependent and tended to be higher with age. The egg hatchability of F1 was reduced significantly due to physiological and genetical damage. Inbreeding to F5-F13 generations proved that sterility is inheritable and particularly high in one- and two-d-old mosquitoes irradiated with the He/Cd and He/Ne lasers. Male Aedes aegypti, which were lured to a sound-emitting speaker in a cage, were repelled slightly by the blue and green argon laser beams.