Field Competitiveness of <i>Aedes albopictus</i> (Diptera: Culicidae) Irradiated Males in Pilot Sterile Insect Technique Trials in Northern Italy

Bellini, Romeo; Carrieri, Marco; Balestrino, Fabrizio; Puggioli, Arianna; Malfacini, Marco; Bouyer, Jérémy

doi:10.1093/jme/tjaa235

Cited by 21 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…From a performance perspective, producing better quality sterile males can lead to the release of more competitive insects in the field. This aspect can be very useful, as it could result in a smaller number of released males, thus reducing production costs [ 14 , 15 ]. The achievement of this objective could be facilitated by the standardization and improvement of the rearing conditions, including the optimization of the larval medium.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Possible Role of Microorganisms in Mosquito Mass Rearing

Chersoni

Checcucci

Malfacini

et al. 2021

Insects

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In Europe, one of the most significant mosquitoes of public health importance is Aedes albopictus (Skuse), an allochthonous species of Asian origin. One of the most promising control methods against Aedes albopictus is the sterile insect technique (SIT), which consists of mass rearing the target species, separation of males from females, and male exposure to sterilizing ionizing radiation. Once released in the environment, the sterile males are expected to search for wild females to mate with. If mating occurs, no offspring is produced. The quality of sterile males is a crucial aspect in SIT programs in order to optimize effectiveness and limit production costs. The integration of probiotic microorganisms in larval and adult mosquito diets could enhance the quality parameters of the released sterile males. In this review, we attempt to give the most representative picture of the present knowledge on the relationships between gut microbiota of mosquitoes and the natural or artificial larval diet. Furthermore, the possible use of probiotic microorganisms for mosquito larvae rearing is explored. Based on the limited amount of data found in the literature, we hypothesize that a better understanding of the interaction between mosquitoes and their microbiota may bring significant improvements in mosquito mass rearing for SIT purposes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Possible Role of Microorganisms in Mosquito Mass Rearing

Chersoni

Checcucci

Malfacini

et al. 2021

Insects

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“…The authors reported a strong negative correlation between the field competitiveness of the Ae. albopictus males released and the ratio of sterile to wild males [ 29 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…aegypti per trap (eggs/trap) were averaged per time unit (week). The percentage of induced egg sterility was calculated by Equation (1), proposed by Bellini et al [ 29 , 30 ]. S = 1 − ((Eh I /E I ) (E C /Eh C )) where S is the percent egg sterility, Eh is the mean number of hatched egg per ovitrap per week, E is the mean number of eggs per trap per week, I is the intervention area and C is the control area.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sterile Insect Technique: Successful Suppression of an Aedes aegypti Field Population in Cuba

Gato

Díaz

Prieto

et al. 2021

Insects

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Dengue virus infections are a serious public health problem worldwide. Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of dengue in Cuba. As there is no vaccine or specific treatment, the control efforts are directed to the reduction of mosquito populations. The indiscriminate use of insecticides can lead to adverse effects on ecosystems, including human health. The sterile insect technique is a species-specific and environment-friendly method of insect population control based on the release of large numbers of sterile insects, ideally males only. The success of this technique for the sustainable management of agricultural pests has encouraged its evaluation for the population suppression of mosquito vector species. Here, we describe an open field trial to evaluate the effect of the release of irradiated male Ae. aegypti on a wild population. The pilot trial was carried out in a suburb of Havana and compared the mosquito population density before and after the intervention, in both untreated control and release areas. The wild population was monitored by an ovitrap network, recording frequency and density of eggs as well as their hatch rate. A significant amount of sterility was induced in the field population of the release area, as compared with the untreated control area. The ovitrap index and the mean number of eggs/trap declined dramatically after 12 and 5 weeks of releases, respectively. For the last 3 weeks, no eggs were collected in the treatment area, clearly indicating a significant suppression of the wild target population. We conclude that the sterile males released competed successfully and induced enough sterility to suppress the local Ae. aegypti population.

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“…aegypti per trap (eggs/ trap) were averaged per time unit (week). The induced egg sterility percentage was calculated by the Equation (1), proposed by Bellini et al [29,30].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The authors reported strong negative correlation between the field competitiveness of the Ae. albopictus males released and the ratio of sterile to wild males [29].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sterile Insect Technique: Successful Suppression of Aedes Aegypti Field Population in Cuba

Gato¹,

Díaz²,

Prieto³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Dengue virus infections are a serious public health problem worldwide. Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of dengue in Cuba. Since there is no vaccine or specific treatment, the control efforts are directed to reduce mosquito populations. The indiscriminate use of pesticides can lead to increase insecticide resistance as well as adverse effects on human health. The sterile insect technique is a species-specific and environmental friendly method of insect control based on the release of large numbers of sterile males. The success of this technique in sustainable control of agricultural pests has encouraged its evaluation for mosquito control. Here, we describe an open field trial to evaluate the effect of the release of irradiated males on a wild population of Aedes aegypti. The case-control study was performed in a suburb of Havana, and compared the mosquito population before and after the intervention, in both control and treated areas. The wild population was monitored by an ovitrap network, recording frequency and density of eggs as well as their hatch rate. A significant induced sterility was observed in the field population, compared to the control. The ovitrap index and the mean eggs/ trap declined dramatically after an expected lag period of twelve and five weeks, respectively. For the last three weeks, no egg was collected in the treated area, evidencing a significant suppression of the wild population. We conclude that the sterile males released competed successfully, and induced enough sterility to suppress the local Aedes aegypti population.

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Field Competitiveness of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) Irradiated Males in Pilot Sterile Insect Technique Trials in Northern Italy

Cited by 21 publications

References 31 publications

The Possible Role of Microorganisms in Mosquito Mass Rearing

The Possible Role of Microorganisms in Mosquito Mass Rearing

Sterile Insect Technique: Successful Suppression of an Aedes aegypti Field Population in Cuba

Sterile Insect Technique: Successful Suppression of Aedes Aegypti Field Population in Cuba

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