Reger Joshua, Wenger Jacob, Brar Gurreet, Burks Charles, Wilson Houston
Department of Plant Science, California State University, 2415 E San Ramon, Fresno, CA 93740, USA.
Department of Entomology, University of California, 900 University Ave, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Insects. 2020 Oct 15;11(10):703. doi: 10.3390/insects11100703.
The navel orangeworm, (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is a key pest of almonds and pistachios in California. Larvae directly feed on nuts, reducing quality and yield, and adults can introduce fungi that produce aflatoxins. The development of sterile insect technique (SIT) is currently being explored as a management tool for this pest. Large quantities of are mass-reared, irradiated, and shipped to California from a USDA APHIS facility in Phoenix, AZ. Preliminary field releases of sterile from this facility resulted in poor recovery of males in pheromone traps, raising concerns that mass-reared male may not be responding to pheromone from virgin females. In this study, a wind tunnel was used to evaluate the response of both irradiated and non-irradiated mass-reared males to crude pheromone extract from females, and their performance was compared to two strains of locally reared non-irradiated . While initial responses associated with pheromone detection where similar between mass-reared and locally reared moths, a lower proportion of the mass-reared moths ultimately made contact with the pheromone source. Surprisingly, the addition of irradiation did not further decrease their performance. While mass-reared moths respond to pheromone, their ability to locate and make contact with the pheromone source appears to be impeded. The underlying mechanism remains unclear, but is likely related to damage incurred during the mass-rearing and shipping process.
脐橙螟（鳞翅目：螟蛾科）是加利福尼亚州杏仁和开心果的主要害虫。幼虫直接取食坚果，降低品质和产量，成虫会传播产生黄曲霉毒素的真菌。目前正在探索利用不育昆虫技术（SIT）来防治这种害虫。大量的脐橙螟在美国农业部动植物卫生检验局位于亚利桑那州凤凰城的设施中大规模饲养、辐照后运往加利福尼亚州。从该设施初步田间释放不育脐橙螟后，性诱捕器中雄性的回收率很低，这引发了人们对大规模饲养的雄性脐橙螟可能对未交配雌蛾的信息素无反应的担忧。在本研究中，使用风洞评估辐照和未辐照的大规模饲养的脐橙螟雄性对雌蛾粗信息素提取物的反应，并将它们的表现与两株本地饲养的未辐照脐橙螟进行比较。虽然大规模饲养和本地饲养的蛾类在与信息素检测相关的初始反应方面相似，但大规模饲养的蛾类最终与信息素源接触的比例较低。令人惊讶的是，辐照并没有进一步降低它们的表现。虽然大规模饲养的蛾类对信息素有反应，但它们定位和接触信息素源的能力似乎受到了阻碍。其潜在机制尚不清楚，但可能与大规模饲养和运输过程中受到的损害有关。
