Mating Ability and Permanency of Sterility in Hempa-Sterilized Males of the Yellow-Fever Mosquito, Aedes Aegypti (L.)

Abstract

The non-alkylating chemosterilant, hempa, is known to induce high sterility in Aedes aegypti (L.). The present investigation with A. aegypti has shown that hempa-sterilized males were fully as competitive as normal males. The sperm received by the female in the first mating had better opportunity to fertilize the eggs than the sperm of subsequent matings. The sterilizing effectiveness of hempa declined gradually in males in successive multiple matings with normal females. Treated sperm once stored in the female did not recover from the effect of hempa for at least 3 to 4 weeks. Hempa-treated males depleted their sperm faster than the normal ones and their efficiency in insemination declined in successive mating series.