Mating Competitiveness of Male Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith) Irradiated by X-rays

Abstract

Spodoptera frugiperda, an invasive pest, has a huge impact on food production in Asia and Africa. The potential and advantages of sterile insect techniques for the permanent control of S. frugiperda have been demonstrated, but the methods for their field application are still unavailable. For the purposes of this study, male pupae of S. frugiperda were irradiated with an X-ray dose of 250 Gy to examine the effects of both the release ratio and the age of the irradiated males on the sterility of their offspring. The control effect of the irradiated male release ratio on S. frugiperda was evaluated using field-cage experiments in a cornfield. The results showed that when the ratio of irradiated males to non-irradiated males reached 12:1, the egg-hatching rate of the offspring of S. frugiperda decreased to less than 26%, and there was also no significant difference in mating competitiveness among the different ages. Field-cage testing showed that when irradiated males were released at ratios of 12:1–20:1 to normal males, the leaf protection effect for the corn reached 48–69% and the reduction in the insect population reached 58–83%. In this study, an appropriate release ratio is suggested, and the mating competitiveness of irradiated and non-irradiated males of S. frugiperda is investigated, thus providing a theoretical basis for the use of sterile insect techniques to control S. frugiperda.

Radiation Dose Optimization for Improving the Sterile Insect Technique of the Cotton Leaf Worm, Spodoptera Littoralis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

“…Also, a high competitiveness in the tested doses may be an advantage for using higher infertile eggs of substerilizing doses. In this line, a high mating competitiveness was given of irradiated S. frugiperda males by 250 Gy (Jiang et al, 2023) and 300 Gy of E. postvittana (Woods et al, 2016). On the contrary, lower doses caused lower deleterious effect on insect quality (Lux et al, 2002;Bakri et al, 2005), higher in competitiveness (Bond et al, 2019).…”

Radiation Dose Optimization for Improving the Sterile Insect Technique of the Cotton Leaf Worm, Spodoptera littoralis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

“…Also, a high competitiveness in the tested doses may be an advantage for using higher infertile eggs of substerilizing doses. In this line, a high mating competitiveness was given of irradiated S. frugiperda males by 250 Gy 43 and 300 Gy of E. postvittana 21 , in contrast, lower doses caused lower deleterious effect on insect quality 25,44 , higher in competitiveness 45 . The obtained values of ISI at tested doses, indicating the irradiated moths mated satisfactory with un-irradiated opposite sex and vice versa, similar results of the mating compatibility was reported by 46 Moreover, data from MRPI and FRPI values were lower than 0.0 at the tested doses, indicating that both irradiated and un-irradiated moth mated in the eld cage equally.…”

Odorant-Binding Proteins and Chemosensory Proteins in Spodoptera frugiperda: From Genome-Wide Identification and Developmental Stage-Related Expression Analysis to the Perception of Host Plant Odors, Sex Pheromones, and Insecticides

“…The reason we chose SfruOBP 31 for binding assays is its high expression in the first and fifth larval instars and in adults ( Figure 9 ). Indeed, these developmental stages were reported to be involved in some remarkable physiological and behavioral adaptions, including the dispersing behavior of the first instar [ 87 ], higher pesticide resistance in elder larvae [ 88 ], and the egg laying/mate seeking behavior of adults [ 89 , 90 ]. Our phylogenetic analysis clustered SfruOBP 31 in Cluster 3, where, according to our transcriptomic analysis ( Figure 9 ), it is represented by OBPs of S. frugiperda with the high expression patterns in the first instar or in the fifth instar and adults, suggesting its potential multiple functions, including the dispersing behavior in the first instar, higher pesticide resistance in elder instars, and the egg laying/mate seeking behavior of adults.…”