Release of Radiosterilized Males to Control Culex Pipiens Quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae)

Abstract

Adult mosquitoes, Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus Say, (24–48 hr old) are rendered sterile when exposed to 10 kR of gamma radiation. Laboratory and field studies indicated that the irradiated males were 1/2 to 1/4 as competitive as native males. Releases of irradiated males were conducted daily for 13 weeks to control a native mosquito population on a small island. There was an average sterile-normal male ratio of 10: 1 throughout this study. Of the egg rafts examined from native females, all exhibited hatch in the prerelease samples; however, by the 13th week, none of the rafts collected over a 3-day period hatched, thus demonstrating the feasibility of controlling native populations of Culex mosquitoes by the release of irradiated males.