Twenty-five Years of Research Experience with the Sterile Insect Technique and Area-Wide Management of Codling Moth, Cydia pomonella (L.), in Canada

Abstract

The advent of novel genetic methods has led to renewed interest in the sterile insect technique (SIT) for management of insect pests, owing to applications in mass rearing and in the production of sterile offspring without use of irradiation. An area-wide management programme for codling moth, Cydia pomonella, has employed the SIT and other management practices over a large area (3395 to 7331 ha) of orchards and neighbouring urban, public, or First Nations lands in British Columbia, Canada, for 25 years. This project is the first to employ the SIT for C. pomonella, and the longest-running application of area-wide techniques for its control, anywhere. It was derived from basic research and applied trials from the 1960s onwards. Many biological challenges were overcome, and lessons learnt, in transferring from small- to large-scale applications of mass rearing and the SIT, with particular regard to Lepidoptera. Research has proven essential to identifying, if not resolving, issues that threaten the implementation and success of any such programme. The major challenges encountered, and the resulting research, are reviewed, as well as future directions. Recommendations are given for application of the SIT as part of any area-wide management programme for C. pomonella.

Will Peri-Urban Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) Challenge Local Eradication?

“…While they significantly reduced the numbers of codling moth, eradication was not achieved, and peri-urban populations were recognized as a contributing factor to that [15].…”

“…However, eradication was not achieved in British Columbia, in part because of immigration from peri-urban host trees [13]. Unmanaged orchards and backyard host trees are now known to have an impact upon an area-wide integrated pest management or AW-IPM codling moth program, with immigration occurring into orchards already under active suppression or eradication [14,15]. Spatial analyses of pheromone trap catches of codling moth in heterogeneous agro-ecosystems in Italy have also shown that trap capture foci were clumped in productive orchards and in zones containing host trees [16].…”

“…Six large corporate orchards began this program after a history of low codling moth activity after more than 15 years of adhering to the regulatory export program (on average less than 5 moths per 10 traps in a whole season), and a seventh large organic orchard had comparatively higher codling moth activity. Results are promising, with large drops in codling moth populations in these orchards, but an eradication attempt necessitates consideration of any neighboring populations of codling moth [14,15]. Large and consistent reductions in the CHB orchard population have led to questions about the potential for expanding the use of the SIT to the main apple production areas of the Heretaunga Plains as part of an area-wide program, but the entire population of codling moth needs to be included in an area-wide program [13].…”

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

“…In this approach, sterilized insects are mass-reared and released to mate with wild conspecifics, which can lead to population reductions over time [ 2 ]. Lepidoptera have become an increasing target of SIT due to their growing impact on high-value agricultural crops around the world [ 3 , 4 , 5 ], and SIT has been successfully used as part of an area-wide integrated pest management (IPM) program to control multiple lepidopteran pests such as codling moth Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) [ 6 ], painted apple moth Teia anartoides (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) [ 7 ], and pink bollworm Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) [ 8 ]. The success of an SIT program is dependent on a variety of factors, but the competitiveness of mass-reared sterile insects is critical, and can be influenced by rearing conditions, sterilization process, transport and release methods.…”

Mass-Rearing of Drosophila suzukii for Sterile Insect Technique Application: Evaluation of Two Oviposition Systems

“…The successful implementation of the sterile insect technique (SIT) as part of an area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) approach against a target pest species requires the development of technologies such as the mass-rearing of the target species, the optimal irradiation doses to sterilize the males and the females, adequate quality control protocols, and packing, shipping, holding, and release procedures [1][2][3][4]. Efficient mass-rearing methods are required to allow for continuous and stable production of sufficient numbers of insects at an economically viable cost [5].…”