Combining transinfected and a genetic sexing strain to control in laboratory-controlled conditions.

The global expansion of has stimulated the development of environmentally friendly methods aiming to control disease transmission through the suppression of natural vector populations. Sterile male release programmes are currently being deployed worldwide, and are challenged by the availability of an efficient sex separation which can be achieved mechanically at the pupal stage and/or by artificial intelligence at the adult stage, or through genetic sexing, which allows separating males and females at an early development stage. In this study, we combined the genetic sexing strain previously established based on the linkage of dieldrin resistance to the male locus with a transinfected line.

Optimization of Dieldrin Selection for the Genetic Sexing of .

The mass production of mosquitoes at an industrial scale requires efficient sex separation, which can be achieved through mechanical, genetic or artificial intelligence means. Compared with other methods, the genetic sexing approach offers the advantage of limiting costs and space by removing females at the larval stage. We recently developed a Genetic Sexing Strain (GSS) in based on the sex linkage of the allele, conferring resistance to dieldrin, to the male (M) locus.

Development of an automated mosquito pupae counter.

The production of mosquitoes for control programs or basic research is facilitated by the standardization of rearing conditions allowing the daily manipulation of thousands of individuals. It is crucial to develop mechanical or electronic systems for controlling the density of mosquitoes at each development stage with the aim of reducing costs, time, and human errors. We present herein an automatic mosquito counter using a recirculating water system allowing rapid and reliable counting of pupae without detectable increased mortality.

Could Sterile Male Releases Interfere with Population in Reunion Island?

In Reunion Island, the feasibility of an control program using the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is studied. Because, in some regions, is living in sympatry with , the impact of releasing millions of sterile male on female reproduction needs to be assessed. Thus, to study the potential heterospecific matings, a marking technique using rhodamine B has been used.

Adult Medium Mass Rearing for SIT Program Development.

For the production of several hundred thousands of sterile males for the implementation of a Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) program, no costly mass-rearing equipment is needed during the initial phases, as optimized rearing at laboratory scale can be sufficient for the first steps. The aim of this study was to maximize the egg production by optimizing adult rearing methods for . The effect of parameters such as male/female ratio, density of adults, membrane type for blood feeding, quantity of blood delivered, continuous or discontinuous blood feeding, and surface of substrates for egg laying on overall egg production was tested to find optimized conditions.