Aedes albopictus (Skuse) males in laboratory and semi-field cages: release ratios and mating competitiveness

To control the container-breeding mosquito and major vector of dengue and chikungunya Aedes albopictus, the sterile insect technique (SIT) is proposed as a component of integrated vector management programs in endemic areas. For the technique to be successful, released males, sterilized with 35 Gy of ionizing radiation during the pupal stage, must be able to compete for mating opportunities with wild counterparts and successfully copulate with wild females to induce sterility in the population. Any reduction in competitiveness can be compensated for by increasing the ratio of released sterile to wild males, a ratio which must be optimized for effectiveness and efficiency. Fruit fly SIT programs use field enclosures to test the competitiveness of sterile males to monitor the quality of the colony and adjust release ratios. This is laborious and time consuming, and for mosquito programs it would be advantageous if similarly useful results could be obtained by smaller scale laboratory tests, conducted on a more regular basis. In the present study we compared the competitiveness, as measured by hatching rate of resulting egg batches, of irradiated males measured in small and large laboratory cages and semi-field enclosures in a greenhouse setting, when competing in a 1:1, 3:1, and 5:1 ratio with fertile males. The sterile males were found to be equally competitive when compared to unirradiated counterparts, and a 5:1 ratio was sufficient to reduce, but not eliminate, the fertility of the female populations, irrespective of cage size. Variability in hatch rate in eggs laid by individual females and so-called indeterminate matings, when we could not be certain whether a female had mated a fertile or a sterile male, could be investigated by closer investigation of mating status and the frequency of multiple matings in Ae. albopictus. The laboratory results are encouraging for the effectiveness of the SIT using irradiated males of this species, and we support further assessment in the field.