Sterile insect technique and incompatible insect technique for the integrated Drosophila suzukii management

Abstract

The spotted wing Drosophila (SWD) vinegar fly, Drosophila suzukii, has become a significant global pest of a wide variety of commercial soft fruits. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a species-specific method of population control that has been successfully used for the suppression or local eradication of several economically important insect pests. Repetitive releases of mass-produced sterile insects in the target area lead progressively to the decline of the pest population since the mating of sterile males with wild females results in no offspring. As part of an area-wide integrated pest management programme, the SIT can also be combined with the incompatible insect technique (IIT). The combined SIT/IIT approach allows for the use of flies that are infected with Wolbachia strains that can induce cytoplasmic incompatibility, to be irradiated with lower doses compared to the ones required for SIT as a stand-alone method. Both the SIT and the SIT/IIT concepts are overruled by strengths and weaknesses when it comes to their application for D. suzukii management in confined locations. In this chapter, we are discussing the requirements and the challenges of SIT and IIT, and we review the progress achieved on these fields for D. suzukii so far.