Abstract
The control and eradication of insect pests by means of sterile insects has been a revolutionary idea in entomology. The method consists of breeding insects in the laboratory in large numbers, sterilizing them by chemicals or by radiation (X-rays or gamma-rays), and releasing them in the open so that they can compete for mates with the natural population. If successful, this will reduce the reproductive potential of the natural population in proportion to the ratio of sterile to fertile insects present in the population after the sterile insects are released. If the ratio is 1:1, and the sterilized insects are fully competitive, the reproductive potential of the natural population will be reduced by 50%. If the ratio is 9:1, the reproductive capacity will be reduced by 90%.
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© 1998 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Perry, A.S., Yamamoto, I., Ishaaya, I., Perry, R. (1998). Insect Sterilants. In: Insecticides in Agriculture and Environment. Applied Agriculture. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03656-3_21
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03656-3_21
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-03658-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-03656-3
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