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Do sterile males and females synergistically suppress pests targeted by the sterile insect technique?

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Abstract

The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a pest control method that releases a large number of sterile pests into the field to inhibit mating between wild pests, ultimately resulting in the eradication of wild pest populations. It has often been discussed whether releasing one sex (mainly males) of sterile insects enhances the pest control efficiency of SIT compared to releasing both sexes (bisexual release). The control efficiency of sterile females may be negatively affected by their release, because sterile males lose the opportunity to mate with wild females. In this study, we investigated whether sterile females have a positive effect on the control efficiency of SIT and whether there is an additive or synergistic effect of releasing both sexes using two weevil species, Cylas formicarius and Euscepes postfasciatus, which are serious pests of the sweet potato Ipomoea batatas and targets of SIT in Okinawa. The results showed that in both species, the reproduction rate of wild pests was significantly suppressed in the case of the sterile female-only release. Interestingly, the most effective method varied between male-only and bisexual release depending on the density of sterile individuals and weevil species. Synergistic effects of both sexes on bisexual release were observed but varied with the density of sterile individuals and weevil species. High-density bisexual release was most effective for the SIT of at least two weevil species.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mr. Satoshi Kinjo, Mr. Kazuya Uehara, Ms. Midori, Ms. Toyoko Izumi, Mr. Tomoaki Yohena, and DJ Flyday for their assistance in conducting the experiments. The authors also thank the members of the Okinawa Prefectural Plant Protection Center and Ryukyu Sankei Co. Ltd. for their assistance with this study. This study was supported by the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (No.18K05667 to C.H.) and Challenging Research (Exploratory) (No.21K19116 to C.H.) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The experiments conducted in this study complied with the current laws in Japan.

Funding

The work of Chihiro Himuro was funded by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, under Grant Nos. 18K05667 and 21K19116.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Okinawa Prefectural Plant Protection Center, Naha, Okinawa, Japan

    Chihiro Himuro & Yusuke Ikegawa

  2. Ryukyu Sankei Co., Ltd, Naha, Okinawa, Japan

    Chihiro Himuro & Yusuke Ikegawa

  3. Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa, Japan

    Chihiro Himuro & Yusuke Ikegawa

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  1. Chihiro Himuro
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  2. Yusuke Ikegawa
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Dr. Chihiro Himuro conceived and designed the study. The material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Dr. Chihiro Himuro. Dr. Chihiro Himuro wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Dr. Yusuke Ikegawa commented on the previous versions of the manuscript. All the authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Chihiro Himuro.

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Himuro, C., Ikegawa, Y. Do sterile males and females synergistically suppress pests targeted by the sterile insect technique?. Appl Entomol Zool 59, 185–193 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13355-024-00868-7

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