First case of successful eradication of the sweet potato weevil, Cylas formicarius (Fabricius), using the sterile insect technique

Abstract

This paper presents the first case of the successful eradication of a Coleoptera pest species over a wide area using a combination of male annihilation technique (MAT) and sterile insect technique (SIT) application. The sweet potato weevil, Cylas formicarius, is one of the most destructive and widely distributed pests of sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas. A project to eradicate it was launched in 1994 on Kume Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The MAT application was first used from November 1994 to January 1999 to reduce the density of wild populations. The distribution and densities of weevils were assessed by trapping them and surveying infestation rates in wild hosts and sweet potatoes in the field. The C. formicarius populations were suppressed by approximately 90% and plant infestations were reduced from 9.5% to less than 0.1% by using the MAT. Then, hundreds of thousands to millions of sterile weevils were released each week (ca. 460 million in total from 1999 to 2012). As a result, based on an analysis of 12748 stems and 48749 tubers, no weevil infections were detected in the stems or tubers of sweet potato since 1997. Since 2009, almost no wild weevils were captured in traps, and in wild host and sweet potato surveys no weevils have been found in any of the 580 locations and 8833 samples since October 2011. As of 28 December, 2012, C. formicarius is considered to have been eradicated from Kume Island. This paper describes the process of eradicating C. formicarius using SIT application integrated with MAT application for the first time and discusses some of the main challenges associated with the weevil eradication campaignl.

Early detection of sweet potato weevil (Cylas formicarius) and scab diseases (Sphaceloma batatas) outbreak based on android application

“…Rapid development of sweet potato weevil and scab disease have caused heavy damage to the sweet potato production of many countries [8] [18]. However, it is difficult for farmers to accurately identify their outbreak, further supported by high number of pesticides indiscriminately, causing insect resistance and resurgence as well as serious environmental pollution [19][20][21].…”

Sustainable sweetpotato production in the United States: Current status, challenges, and opportunities

“…Recent studies have also reported that sex pheromone‐baited plastic pole traps caught 60%–78% more weevils than sex pheromone‐baited delta traps, wing traps, or unitraps (Dilipkumar et al., 2019). Successful eradication of these weevils has been reported using a combination of male annihilation techniques and sterile insect technique in Kume Island, Japan (Himuro et al., 2022). Use of male annihilation techniques reduced the wild population density in a few years, followed by the release of millions of sterile weevils, which helped to completely eradicate the weevils from Kume Island.…”

Effects of ejaculate size on remating, attractiveness, and oviposition in females of the sweetpotato weevil, Cylas formicarius

“…The female sex pheromone of the sweetpotato weevil has been identified, synthesized, and used for their control (Heath et al, 1986; Chalfant et al, 1990; Yasuda, 1995; Kohama & Haraguchi, 2010; Himuro et al, 2022). This pheromone obtained from virgin females strongly attracts only males in the field and laboratory and elicits an overt series of behaviors (activation, orientation, and sexual movements).…”