Monitoring Sterile and Wild Insects in Area-Wide Integrated Pest Management Programmies

• Published in: Sterile Insect Technique pp. 485 - 528
• Main Author: Vreysen, M. J. B.
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 05.01.2021
• Edition: 2
• Subjects: Target Insect; Sterile Insects; Sterile Insect Releases; Codling Moth; False Codling Moth; Green Leaf Volatiles; Tsetse Fly Glossina; Wild Male; World Screwworm; Wild Type Males; Cytoplasmic Incompatibility; Sterile Males Released; Sterile Males; Tsetse Fly; Mediterranean Fruit Fly Ceratitis Capitata; Melon Fly; Fruit Fly; Wild Females; Wild Insects; Tsetse Population; Mediterranean Fruit Fly; Sexual Competitiveness; Sit
• ISBN: 9780367474348; 9780367762261; 0367474344; 0367762269
• DOI: 10.1201/9781003035572-14

Insect pest control programmes, which integrate the release of sterile insects, can be efficient only if the released insects have an optimal biological quality. Frequent monitoring of the quality of reared insects after being released in the field is an important but often neglected component of area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programmes that integrate the sterile insect technique (SIT). Parameters of sterile insects, which should be monitored regularly, are sexual competitiveness of the released insects, and related components, e.g. survival, mobility, dispersal characteristics, and spatial occupation of the habitat. A well-balanced monitoring programme will, at any given time, provide essential feedback on the target and sterile populations in the field, and therefore on whether progress is being made. This information is prerequisite to efficient implementation of the release and cost-efficient use of sterile insects. The type of monitoring to be done will be determined largely by the particular biology of the target insect species. The rate of sterility induced in the wild insect pest population is the most important parameter in relation to the release of sterile insects; an increased rate of induced sterility in the native female population can unequivocally be linked to a decrease in the density of the target insect population. Monitoring sterile and wild insects is a critical aspect of any sterile insect technique operation and includes: the performance of sterile insects after release, and the impact of sterile males and other control tactics on the wild target population. Fitness in wild insects involves their genetic contribution to the next generation's gene pool relative to the average for the population. The number of wild insects per unit of habitat surface determines the release rate of sterile insects that is required to achieve the desired sterile to wild ratio in the target area. The mobility and dispersal capacity of released sterile insects should be monitored frequently, compared with those of wild insects. Data on temporal and spatial changes in occupation of the habitat, by both sterile and wild insects, can be used to regularly adapt the scheme for distributing sterile insects. Despite these uniform aerial release rates, the sterile males redistributed themselves and occupied microhabitat niches similar to those occupied by wild insects.