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Effect of irradiation on mating performance and mating ability in the West Indian sweetpotato weevil, Euscepes postfasciatus
Author(s) -
Kumano Norikuni,
Haraguchi Dai,
Kohama Tsuguo
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1111/j.1570-7458.2008.00706.x
Subject(s) - sterile insect technique , biology , mating , curculionidae , sperm , irradiation , pest analysis , weevil , insect , sterilization (economics) , gamma irradiation , zoology , toxicology , sterility , botany , physics , nuclear physics , economics , monetary economics , foreign exchange market , foreign exchange
The sterile insect technique (SIT) is widely used for suppressing or eradicating target pest insect populations. The effectiveness of SIT depends on the ability of released sterile males to mate with and inseminate wild females. Irradiation not only damages the reproductive cells but the somatic cells as well. The mating behavior of irradiated males may be altered over time due to the depressed metabolic activity brought about by sterilization. In this study, we evaluated the mating behavior (copulation behavior, mating performance, and ability of sperm transfer) of irradiated males in Euscepes postfasciatus (Fairmaire) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) for 16 days after irradiation in the laboratory. The mating performance of males irradiated with a 150 Gy dose, as currently used in the SIT program in Okinawa prefecture for E. postfasciatus , decreased compared to that of control after day 7. As a result, we considered that irradiation had no major effect on male mating behavior for approximately 1 week after irradiation.