Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, International Atomic Energy Agency, 1400, Vienna, Austria.
Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé/Direction Régionale de l'Ouest (IRSS/DRO), 01, BP 545, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.
Sci Rep. 2022 Feb 15;12(1):2561. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-06565-1.
The sterile insect technique is a promising environmentally friendly method for mosquito control. This technique involves releasing laboratory-produced sterile males into a target field site, and its effectiveness may be affected by the extent of adult mosquito predation. Sterile males undergo several treatments. Therefore, it is vital to understand which treatments are essential in minimizing risks to predation once released. The present study investigates the predation propensity of four mantis species (Phyllocrania paradoxa, Hymenopus coronatus, Blepharopsis mendica, Deroplatys desiccata) and two gecko species (Phelsuma standingi, P. laticauda) on adult Aedes aegypti, Ae. albopictus and Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes in a laboratory setting. First, any inherent predation preferences regarding mosquito species and sex were evaluated. Subsequently, the effects of chilling, marking, and irradiation, on predation rates were assessed. The selected predators effectively preyed on all mosquito species regardless of the treatment. Predation propensity varied over days for the same individuals and between predator individuals. Overall, there was no impact of laboratory treatments of sterile males on the relative risk of predation by the test predators, unless purposely exposed to double the required sterilizing irradiation dose. Further investigations on standardized predation trials may lead to additional quality control tools for irradiated mosquitoes.
昆虫不育技术是一种有前途的环境友好型蚊虫控制方法。该技术涉及将实验室生产的不育雄蚊释放到目标现场,其有效性可能受到成蚊捕食的影响。不育雄蚊要经过几种处理。因此,了解哪些处理是减少释放后捕食风险所必需的至关重要。本研究在实验室环境下,调查了四种螳螂物种(Phyllocrania paradoxa、Hymenopus coronatus、Blepharopsis mendica、Deroplatys desiccata)和两种壁虎物种(Phelsuma standingi、P. laticauda)对成蚊埃及伊蚊、白纹伊蚊和疟蚊的捕食倾向。首先,评估了关于蚊种和性别固有的捕食偏好。随后,评估了冷藏、标记和辐照对捕食率的影响。选定的捕食者有效地捕食了所有的蚊子物种,无论是否经过处理。同一批个体在不同天数之间以及不同捕食者个体之间的捕食倾向存在差异。总体而言,实验室处理不育雄蚊对测试捕食者的相对捕食风险没有影响,除非故意暴露于两倍于所需的绝育辐照剂量。进一步对标准化捕食试验的研究可能会为辐照蚊子提供额外的质量控制工具。