Mating harassment may boost the effectiveness of the sterile insect technique for Aedes mosquitoes
2024
Zhang, Dongjing | Maiga, Hamidou | Li, Yongjun | Bakhoum, Mame Thierno | Wang, Gang | Sun, Yan | Damiens, David | Mamai, Wadaka | Bimbilé Somda, Nanwintoum, Séverin | Wallner, Thomas | Bueno-Masso, Odet | Martina, Claudia | Kotla, Simran Singh | Yamada, Hanano | Lu, Deng | Tan, Cheong Huat | Guo, Jiatian | Feng, Qingdeng | Zhang, Junyan | Zhao, Xufei | Paerhande, Dilinuer | Pan, Wenjie | Wu, Yu | Zheng, Xiaoying | Wu, Zhongdao | Xi, Zhiyong | Vreysen, Marc J.B. | Bouyer, Jérémy | Sun Yat-sen University [Guangzhou] (SYSU) | Insect Pest Control Laboratory (IPC laboratory) ; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [Rome, Italie] (FAO)-International Atomic Energy Agency [Vienna] (IAEA) | Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé Bobo Dioulasso (INSSA) ; Université Nazi Boni (Bobo-Dioulasso) (UNB) | Jinan University [Guangzhou] | Laboratoire National d'Elevage et de Recherches Vétérinaires [Dakar] (LNERV) ; Institut sénégalais de recherches agricoles [Dakar] (ISRA) | Maladies infectieuses et vecteurs : écologie, génétique, évolution et contrôle (MIVEGEC) ; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [Occitanie])-Université de Montpellier (UM) | Cyclotron Réunion Océan Indien (CYROI) ; Université de La Réunion (UR)-Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de La Réunion (CHU La Réunion) | Université Norbert ZONGO de Koudougou | National Environment Agency [Singapore] (NEA) | Michigan State University [East Lansing] ; Michigan State University System | Animal, Santé, Territoires, Risques et Ecosystèmes (UMR ASTRE) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) | This research was funded by the United States of America under a grant of the IAEA entitled “Surge expansion for the sterile insect technique to control mosquito populations that transmit the Zika virus” (JB). Sun Yat-sen University was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFC1200100 and 2022YFC2603600), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82002168 and 82072308), the 6th Nuclear Energy R&D Project (20201192), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, China (2021B1212040017 and 2022B1111010004), the Guangzhou Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (202201011518), the IAEA Department of Technical Cooperation (RAS5095), the IAEA Coordinated Research Project (D44005), the NSFC-BMGF (82261128006 and 2022YFML1005) and BMGF (INV-061480) (DZ). This research was also part of the Coordinated Research Project (CRP) of the FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture on irradiation and quality control (MTB). Wolbaki Biotech was funded by the Guangdong Innovative Research Team Program (No. 2011S009) (ZX). IRD was funded by the ERDF program, grant number “GURDTI 2017-0583-0001899” within 2014–2020 framework—Action 1.05 “Strengthening the Health and biotechnology Innovation” (DD).
International audience
Show more [+] Less [-]English. The sterile insect technique is based on the overflooding of a target population with released sterile males inducing sterility in the wild female population. It has proven to be effective against several insect pest species of agricultural and veterinary importance and is under development for Aedes mosquitoes. Here, we show that the release of sterile males at high sterile male to wild female ratios may also impact the target female population through mating harassment. Under laboratory conditions, male to female ratios above 50 to 1 reduce the longevity of female Aedes mosquitoes by reducing their feeding success. Under controlled conditions, blood uptake of females from an artificial host or from a mouse and biting rates on humans are also reduced. Finally, in a field trial conducted in a 1.17 ha area in China, the female biting rate is reduced by 80%, concurrent to a reduction of female mosquito density of 40% due to the swarming of males around humans attempting to mate with the female mosquitoes. This suggests that the sterile insect technique does not only suppress mosquito vector populations through the induction of sterility, but may also reduce disease transmission due to increased female mortality and lower host contact.
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