In a joint research, Ryukyu University, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, and Kochi University proposed a new technology that combines infertility and "courting error" to control and eradicate multiple types of pests at the same time.
Sterile insect technology is a technology that prevents wild pests from breeding normally by releasing a large amount of artificially sterilized pests and eradicates the target pests.It is widely used in the world as an environment-friendly pest control method that does not use chemical pesticides, but it is used to proliferate and continuously release the number required for eradication (tens of millions to hundreds of millions per week). Economic and labor costs are high.In addition, as the risk of new pest invasion increases due to climate change and increased trade in people and goods, we have developed a sterile insect technology targeting new types of pests while continuing to take measures against existing pests. It is not easy to maintain.
Therefore, in this study, we combined the framework of sterile insect technology, which originally targets only one type of pest, with an action called reproductive interference, in which males court other females to interfere with their reproduction. We devised a new method to apply to multiple types at the same time.Reproductive interference is a "courtship error" that occurs between closely related species with similar shapes and patterns, and has the effect of suppressing the growth of other species, causing extinction of the species, and significantly limiting its distribution. be.By sterilizing a type of male that has a strong effect of reproductive interference and releasing it outdoors, it is possible not only to interfere with the reproduction of the same type of female, but also to court another type of female to prevent it from breeding. It is thought that it is possible to control multiple types of closely related pests at the same time, and it is an insect repellent management technology of "one stone and two insects" that is not exactly two birds with one stone.
If this technology is put into practical use in the future, it is expected that it will be possible to control and eradicate pests efficiently at low cost.
