Brandolini T, A Puggioli, M Marinozzi, G Celli, R Martini, M Carrieri, R Bellini
Aedes albopictus (Skuse) is one of the most dangerous invasive mosquito species with a high vectorial capacity for several arboviruses. It is therefore necessary to control and reduce the diffusion of this species but traditional control methods are not effective enough. The Sterile Insect Technique is a promising method which consists in the production and release of a large number of sterile males, which mate with wild virgin females that subsequently lay infertile eggs.
The SIT mass rearing facility established at Centro Agricoltura Ambiente in Crevalcore, Italy, has the capacity to produce 1 million males per week, and in the summer 2023 produced more than 700,000 sterile males a week.
Larvae are reared in racks with 50 trays each and pupae collected after 160 hours from egg seeding, male pupae are separated from the females by means of an automatic sex-sorter and X-ray irradiated. The male pupae are left to emerge inside emergence tubes with netted top and bottom placed into trays filled with water. Sugar solution is provided in each tube for the adult nourishment. The tubes are maintained for two/three days to allow complete adult emergence.
In case of short distance transportation sterile males can be released directly from the tubes by car, while for long distance transportation the tubes are stacked into a refrigerated cabinet (8±1°C) for about 15 minutes to cold shock anesthetize the males for easy packaging and shipping by express courier. To maintain the temperature in the range 10-12°C over 24 h transportation, adequate quantity of phase changing materials (PCM gel packs) are included in the package.
In 2023 sterile males were supplied to Portugal, Croatia, Serbia (supported by IAEA), Switzerland (SUPSI and ISIDORe), Greece (Benaki Phytopathological Institute), Germany (ICYBAC), Zagabria (Institute of Public Health) and to Italy (supported by the Municipality of Bologna).
Scarica poster