On the impact of re-mating and residual fertility on the Sterile Insect Technique efficacy: case study with the medfly, Ceratitis capitata - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Pré-Publication, Document De Travail Année : 2023

On the impact of re-mating and residual fertility on the Sterile Insect Technique efficacy: case study with the medfly, Ceratitis capitata

Résumé

Sterile insect techniques can be an efficient solution for reducing or eliminating certain insect pest populations. It is widely and efficiently used in agriculture against fruit flies, including the Mediterranean fly, Ceratitis capitata. The re-mating tendency of medfly females and the fact that sterile males are often released with slight residual fertility can at first sight appear to be detrimental for the successful implementation of SIT. Obtaining the right balance between sterility level and male quality is the key to a cost-efficient program. Since field experimental approaches can be impacted by many environmental variables, it is difficult to get a clear understanding on how some specific parameters can affect, alone or in combination, the efficacy of sterile males release. The use of models not only helps to gather knowledge, but it also helps simulating different situations scenarii and can be easily adapted to local values from the field population and sterile male production. In this study, we consider how the minimal release ratio is affected by female re-mating rate (with an equal or higher tendency to re-mating after an insemination by a sterile male) and male residual fertility. Different scenarios were explored: continuous versus periodic releases, with and without ginger aromatherapy, which is known to enhance sterile male competitiveness. Parameters values were chosen from the literature on peach host fruit when available to reflect what could be expected in the Corsican context, for which SIT against the medfly is under consideration. Our results clearly show that low residual fertility is not necessarily detrimental to SIT performance. In contrast, re-mating of wild females provides contrasting results: when re-mating occurs without a change in the refractory period, it is beneficial because it requires the releases of less sterile males. On the other hand, if females mated with a sterile male have a faster re-mating, it is detrimental for the SIT program as the amount of sterile males to release can become too large. We also confirmed that the use of ginger aromatherapy is more than an essential step for SIT success against medfly. Our model can be easily adapted to different context and species, in order to help understanding release strategies and guiding decision making.

Dates et versions

hal-04190843 , version 1 (30-08-2023)

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Yves Dumont, Clelia Oliva. On the impact of re-mating and residual fertility on the Sterile Insect Technique efficacy: case study with the medfly, Ceratitis capitata. 2023. ⟨hal-04190843⟩
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