Development Of Sterile Insect Technique Research Articles

Development of Sterile Insect Technique for Control of the European Grapevine Moth, Lobesia botrana, in Urban Areas of Chile.

The European grapevine moth, a Palearctic pest, was first detected in the Americas in 2008. Its establishment in Chile presented production and export issues for grapes and other fruits, and a national control campaign was launched. Urban areas next to agricultural production areas were recognized as a challenge for effective control. In 2015, a SIT laboratory was established in Arica, Chile to evaluate its potential for urban control. Progress included the development and evaluation of artificial diets, a mass-rearing of 75,000 moths/week, confirmation of 150 Gy as an operational dose for inherited sterility, and releases of sterile moths in a 25 ha urban area next to fruit production areas. Season-long releases demonstrated that high overflooding ratios were achieved early in the season but decreased with a large increase in the wild moth population. Sterile moth quality was consistently high, and moths were observed living in the field up to 10 days and dispersing up to 800 m. Recommendations for further development of the SIT include conducting cage and field studies to evaluate overflooding ratios and mating competitiveness, measuring of infestation densities in release and no-release areas, and conducting trials to evaluate combining SIT with compatible integrated pest management (IPM) tactics such as fruit stripping and use of mating disruption.

Evaluating Response of Mass-Reared and Irradiated Navel Orangeworm, Amyelois transitella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), to Crude Female Pheromone Extract.

Simple SummaryThe navel orangeworm is an important pest of almonds and pistachios in California. Sterile insect technique (SIT) is being explored as an additional component of management of this pest. Preliminary field releases of sterile navel orangeworm shipped from a facility in Phoenix, AZ resulted in poor recovery of males in pheromone traps, raising concerns about the mass-reared male moths’ quality. In this study, a wind tunnel was used to evaluate the response of irradiated and non-irradiated mass-reared navel orangeworm males to pheromone extract from females, and their performance was compared to two strains of locally reared non-irradiated navel orangeworm. Initial responses were similar for all moths tested. A lower proportion of mass-reared moths contacted the pheromone source. The underlying mechanism for this reduction remains unclear, but is likely related to damage incurred during the mass-rearing and shipping process. Our findings indicate navel orangeworm in the current program is generally competent to locate a sex pheromone source, but the rearing and transportation protocols may need refining.The navel orangeworm, Amyleois transitella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is a key pest of almonds and pistachios in California. Larvae directly feed on nuts, reducing quality and yield, and adults can introduce fungi that produce aflatoxins. The development of sterile insect technique (SIT) is currently being explored as a management tool for this pest. Large quantities of A. transitella are mass-reared, irradiated, and shipped to California from a USDA APHIS facility in Phoenix, AZ. Preliminary field releases of sterile A. transitella from this facility resulted in poor recovery of males in pheromone traps, raising concerns that mass-reared male A. transitella may not be responding to pheromone from virgin females. In this study, a wind tunnel was used to evaluate the response of both irradiated and non-irradiated mass-reared A. transitella males to crude pheromone extract from females, and their performance was compared to two strains of locally reared non-irradiated A. transitella. While initial responses associated with pheromone detection where similar between mass-reared and locally reared moths, a lower proportion of the mass-reared moths ultimately made contact with the pheromone source. Surprisingly, the addition of irradiation did not further decrease their performance. While mass-reared moths respond to pheromone, their ability to locate and make contact with the pheromone source appears to be impeded. The underlying mechanism remains unclear, but is likely related to damage incurred during the mass-rearing and shipping process.