Biological control of insects

Abstract

Provided herein are modified insects having decreased expression of a testis-specific coding region compared to a control insect. In one embodiment, the modified insect includes the characteristic of reduced fertility, reduced fecundity, or a combination thereof, when compared to the control insect. Optionally and preferably, the competiveness of the modified insect is not significantly reduced compared to the control insect. Also included herein are methods for making a modified insect, and methods for using the modified insects, including making populations of modified insects and use of the modified insects in sterile insect technique for biological control.

Description

[0001] Cross References to Related Applications [0002] This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Application Serial No. 61 / 880,498, filed September 20, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Background of the invention [0003] The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a species-specific biological control method that reduces or eliminates pest populations without the need for chemical insecticides. This technique requires the release of large numbers of sterile males, which then compete with wild males to mate with females to reduce populations (Knipling, 1960; Vreysen et al., 2000; Klassen et al., 1994; Hendrichs et al., 1995; Bloem and Bloem ,1999). Irradiation or chemical sterilants are commonly used to sterilize males for SIT, but these treatments reduce their ability to compete for mates, which often requires the generation and release of more sterile males to increase efficacy (Holbrook and Fujimoto, 1970; Mayer et al. People, 1998; Helsinki and Kn...

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