Publisher Summary This chapter describes sterile insect techniques (SIT). It is a biologically based method for the control of key insect pests. Wild female insects inseminated by released, radiation-sterilized males do not reproduce, and repeated releases of the sterilized insects lead to a reduction in pest population numbers. Effective control using sterile insects is achieved when they are used systematically as part of area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programs. SIT is species-specific, nonpolluting, and resistance-free. Since the original concept was developed in the United States in the 1940s, SIT has been used successfully for screwworm flies, tsetse flies, fruit flies, and moths. Technical progress in behavioral ecology, mass rearing, strain improvement, global information, positioning and monitoring systems, and aerial release, combined with economies of scale and a growing demand for pest-free and low-pesticide agricultural products in local and international trade, have increased the use of SIT in AW-IPM programs. These programs, by decreasing insecticide use, have also facilitated the use of biological control agents against secondary insect pests.

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Sterile Insect Technique

Inherited Sterility in Lepidoptera

The unique genetic phenomena responsible for inherited sterility (IS) in Lepidoptera and some other arthropods, as compared with full sterility, provide advantages for pest control. Lepidopteran females are usually more sensitive to radiation than males of the same species. This allows the radiation dose to be adjusted to suit programme requirements. When partially sterile males mate with wild females, the radiation-induced deleterious effects are inherited by the F1 generation. As a result, egg hatch is reduced and the resulting offspring are both highly sterile and predominately male. Compared with the high radiation required to achieve full sterility in Lepidoptera, the lower dose of radiation used to induce F1 sterility increases the quality and competitiveness of the released insects as measured by improved dispersal after release, increased mating ability, and superior sperm competition. F1 sterile progeny produced in the field enhance the efficacy of released partially sterile males, and improve compatibility with other pest control strategies. In addition, F1 sterile progeny can be used to increase the production of natural enemies, and to study the potential host and geographical ranges of exotic lepidopteran pests.

Inherited Sterility in Insects

Spodoptera litura reared on host plants and on synthetic diet were irradiated with two substerilizing doses of gamma radiation, 100 Gy and 130 Gy, and examined for inherited sterility. Irradiation affected mating success in the parental (P) and F1 generations. F1 sterility was higher than P sterility, and F1 males inherited more sterility than did F1 females. F1 progeny developed at a slower rate compared with controls. F1 survival to adulthood decreased with increasing dose of radiation. Sex ratio in F1 moths was skewed towards male. Life tables were constructed for S. litura reared on host plant and synthetic diets, and the impact of radiation on population characteristics was ascertained. Reproductive rate (R0) was significantly decreased as a consequence of irradiation, and the effect was more severe in F1 crosses than in P crosses. There was a negative correlation between the dose of radiation and the percent embryo formation in P crosses. Whereas in F1 crosses, radiation dose (given to male parents) was positively correlated with the percent unhatched embryonated eggs. Early mortality of eggs prevailed in unhatched eggs derived from P crosses, and late embryonic lethality was the major cause of F1 sterility. Effects of irradiation are discussed with an emphasis on assessing the potential of the inherited sterility principle for pest control.

Inherited sterility by substerilizing radiation in spodoptera litura (lepidoptera: noctuidae): bioefficacy and potential for pest suppression

Males of 4 species of insects: Musca domestica L. (housefly) (Diptera), Oncopeltus fasciatus (Dallas) ( milkweed bug) (Hemiptera), Anagasta kuhniella ( Zeller ) ( mealmouth ) (Lepidoptera) and Heliothis virescens (Fab.) (tobacco budworm ) (Lepidoptera) were irradiated as adults. Dose--response curves for the induction of dominant lethal mutations in the mature sperm were constructed. The curves were analyzed mathematically and compared with theoretical computer simulated curves requiring 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 'hits' for the induction of a dominant lethal mutation. The 4 species belonging to 3 different orders of insects showed a wide range in radiation sensitivity and vastly different dose--response curves. The house fly was the most sensitive and displayed a '1-hit' curve. The milkweed bug was intermediate in sensitivity and the curve exhibited '4-hit' kinetics. The mealmoth and tobacco budworm were most radioresistant and the response curves resembled 8-16--hit simulated curves. When the data were analyzed by several mathematical models we found that a logistic response curve gave reasonably good fit with vastly different parameters for the 4 species. Dose-fractionation experiments showed no reduction in the frequency of lethal mutations induced in any species when an acute dose was fractionated into 2 equal exposures separated by an 8-h period. Various reasons for large differences in radiosensitivity are discussed, e.g., (1) differences in repair mechanisms, (2) variation in oxygen concentration, (3) holokinetic versus monokinetic chromosomes and (4) intrinsic differences in mitotic cell cycles which affect the behavior of radiation-induced chromosome breaks.

Insect radiosensitivity: dose curves and dose-fractionation studies of dominant lethal mutations in the mature sperm of 4 insect species.

Postembryonic growth and development of f1 and f2 tobacco budworms (lepidoptera: noctuidae) from partially sterile males

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0008347X00041766

Inherited sterility and postembryonic survival of two generations of tobacco budworms, heliothis virescehs (lepidoptera: noctuidae), from partially sterile males

J. A. Bartell

Papers

Postembryonic growth and development of f1 and f2 tobacco budworms (lepidoptera: noctuidae) from partially sterile males

Inherited sterility and postembryonic survival of two generations of tobacco budworms, heliothis virescehs (lepidoptera: noctuidae), from partially sterile males

Fertility and survival of tobacco budworms, Heliothis virescens (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), from gamma-irradiated females