Location: Mosquito and Fly Research
Project Number: 6036-32000-052-098-R
Project Type: Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 2, 2022
End Date: Sep 30, 2022
Objective:
Here we propose to take our lab data into the field for population suppression studies in Anastasia Mosquito Control and Lee County Mosquito Control districts. These field studies will test the extent to which sterile insect technique (SIT) can be used to suppress suburban, domestic Aedes (Ae.) aegypti populations in two very different regions, Northeast vs. Southwest Florida. The ultimate outcomes of this project will be to validate SIT as a method for Ae. aegypti control in Florida, and to develop best practice recommendations for mosquito control districts to integrate SIT into their integrative mosquito management plans.
Approach:
We will begin a population suppression study running from early 2022 until the end of the Aedes (Ae.) aegypti field season in the winter of 2021-2022 in St. Augustine, likely December 2022. We will use use the data from late 2021 and prepare to resume with field releases as early as February to the expected beginning of Ae. aegypti activity, likely March 2020. By using our trial data from late 2021 to refine our field release program and starting releases before Ae. aegypti populations build in spring 2022, we expect the greatest population suppression efficacy in 2022.
