Project Number: 5320-43000-016-08
Project Type: General Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 13, 2011
End Date: Jul 31, 2013

Objective:
The primary objective of this project is to assess the effects of ionizing radiation on invasive species including light brown apple moth and spotted winged drosophila.

Approach:
The artificial diet developed for pink bollworm will be used to rear light brown apple moths, and test insects will be treated in diet or in apples. Spotted wind drosophila will be reared on artificial diet or in blueberries. The goal is to find a dose that prevents reproduction, either by preventing development to the adult stage or sterilizing the adults or their progeny. Dose-response tests with all pest life stages will consist of five to eight doses at 30 to 50 Gy increments within a range from 60 to 250 Gy. In each test a control group will not be irradiated. Irradiation treatment will be conducted at a commercial x-ray facility. After irradiation, data will be taken on pupation, adult emergence and/or female fertility, and development of all individuals will be followed until death. Once doses that cause sterility or prevent adult emergence are identified for the most tolerant stage of each species, large-scale confirmatory tests will be conducted using naturally or artificially infested plant material.