Mating harassment may boost the effectiveness of the sterile insect technique for Aedes mosquitoes

Dongjing Zhang, Hamidou Maiga, Yongjun Li, Mame Thierno Bakhoum, Gang Wang, Yan Sun, David Damiens, Wadaka Mamai, Nanwintoum Séverin Bimbilé Somda, Thomas Wallner, Odet Bueno-Masso, Claudia Martina, Simran Singh Kotla, Hanano Yamada, Deng Lu, Cheong Huat Tan, Jiatian Guo, Qingdeng Feng, Junyan Zhang, Xufei Zhao, Dilinuer Paerhande, Wenjie Pan, Yu Wu, Xiaoying Zheng, Zhongdao Wu, Zhiyong Xi, Marc J. B. Vreysen and Jérémy Bouyer ()
Additional contact information
Dongjing Zhang: Sun Yat-sen University
Hamidou Maiga: Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, IAEA
Yongjun Li: Jinan University
Mame Thierno Bakhoum: Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, Direction Régionale de l’Ouest (IRSS-DRO)
Gang Wang: Sun Yat-sen University
Yan Sun: Sun Yat-sen University
David Damiens: UMR MIVEGEC (CNRS/IRD/Université de Montpellier), IRD Réunion/GIP CYROI (Recherche Santé Bio-innovation), Sainte Clotilde
Wadaka Mamai: Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, IAEA
Nanwintoum Séverin Bimbilé Somda: Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, IAEA
Thomas Wallner: Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, IAEA
Odet Bueno-Masso: Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, IAEA
Claudia Martina: Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, IAEA
Simran Singh Kotla: Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, IAEA
Hanano Yamada: Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, IAEA
Deng Lu: National Environment Agency
Cheong Huat Tan: National Environment Agency
Jiatian Guo: Sun Yat-sen University
Qingdeng Feng: Sun Yat-sen University
Junyan Zhang: Sun Yat-sen University
Xufei Zhao: Sun Yat-sen University
Dilinuer Paerhande: Sun Yat-sen University
Wenjie Pan: SYSU Nuclear and Insect Biotechnology Co., Ltd
Yu Wu: Sun Yat-sen University
Xiaoying Zheng: Sun Yat-sen University
Zhongdao Wu: Sun Yat-sen University
Zhiyong Xi: Guangzhou Wolbaki Biotech Co., Ltd
Marc J. B. Vreysen: Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, IAEA
Jérémy Bouyer: Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, IAEA

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract The sterile insect technique is based on the overflooding of a target population with released sterile males inducing sterility in the wild female population. It has proven to be effective against several insect pest species of agricultural and veterinary importance and is under development for Aedes mosquitoes. Here, we show that the release of sterile males at high sterile male to wild female ratios may also impact the target female population through mating harassment. Under laboratory conditions, male to female ratios above 50 to 1 reduce the longevity of female Aedes mosquitoes by reducing their feeding success. Under controlled conditions, blood uptake of females from an artificial host or from a mouse and biting rates on humans are also reduced. Finally, in a field trial conducted in a 1.17 ha area in China, the female biting rate is reduced by 80%, concurrent to a reduction of female mosquito density of 40% due to the swarming of males around humans attempting to mate with the female mosquitoes. This suggests that the sterile insect technique does not only suppress mosquito vector populations through the induction of sterility, but may also reduce disease transmission due to increased female mortality and lower host contact.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-46268-x Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-46268-x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46268-x

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().