D 4 10 22 Limited Distribution WORKING MATERIAL INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY OF LEPIDOPTERA SIT BY ENHANCED QUALITY CONTROL Third Research Co-ordination Meeting within the FAO/IAEA Co- ordinated Research Programme held in Phoenix, USA from 12 to 16 September 2012 Reproduced by the IAEA Vienna, Austria 2013 NOTE The material in this document has been supplied by the authors and has not been edited by the IAEA. The views expressed remain the responsibility of the named authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the government(s) of the designating Member State(s), In particular, neither the IAEA nor any other organization or body sponsoring this meeting can be held responsible for any material reproduced in this document. 2 Table of Content Introduction 5 The Coordinated Research Project 5 The Third RCM 6 Quality Management Workshop 6 Agenda 8 List of Participants 9 Working group Reports 14 Working Papers 46 3 4 Introduction Some species of Lepidoptera are among the most damaging pests of food and fibre crops around the world. Nineteen out of the 37 worst insect pest threats facing US agriculture are Lepidoptera (51%). Codling moth Cydia pomonella (L.), diamondback moth Plutella xylostella (L.), oriental fruit moth Grapholita molesta (Busck), the American cotton bollworm or corn earworm Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), and pink bollworm Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) are all examples of globally important moth pests that in most cases are being controlled with broad-spectrum and persistent insecticides. The extensive use of insecticides as the major control tactic is putting the farmer for some serious challenges as many Lepidoptera have developed resistance to the commonly used insecticides. Moreover, recently, several effective pesticides have been removed from the European market due to increased recognition of long-term human health and environmental harm caused by their wide-spread use. In addition, there is an increasing market pressure to reduce pesticide residues in food commodities. Finally, global increases in trade and travel have resulted in an increase in the rate of invasion of lepidopteran species, which threaten agricultural systems, markets, communities, and biodiversity on a worldwide basis. Insect pests can be controlled or eradicated through a “birth control” method based on genetic manipulation, known as autocidal pest control, or the sterile insect technique (SIT). It involves the colonization and mass- rearing of the target pest species, sterilization of the insects through the use of gamma radiation, and their release into the field on a sustained basis and in sufficient numbers to achieve appropriate sterile to wild insect over-flooding ratios. The sterile insects need to find and mate with fertile, virgin insects, rendering the wild population infertile. Due to the absence of offspring, the natural pest population will decrease. The validity of this method has been demonstrated for many insect pests, including many moths, screwworm, tsetse and fruit flies. A refinement of the SIT for Lepidoptera, known as inherited sterility or F1 sterility, involves lowering the irradiation dose and consequently increasing the competitiveness of the released parental insects. Moths treated with a lower sterilizing dose live longer, are stronger fliers, and mate more frequently than moths treated with higher radiation doses. When inherited sterility systems are implemented into moth SIT programs, great improvements in programme efficiency can be obtained. There is broad international consensus that intervention campaigns against Lepidopteran pests should be based on the area-wide concept of integrated pest management (AW-IPM), and that the SIT can be considered as a key tactic for creating pest free areas or for pest management within IPM programmes. The use of SIT as a control tactic has many advantages, including its species specificity, its environment friendliness, and its compatibility with the use of other area-wide control tactics such as mating disruption, biological control, cultural control methods and the use of bio-rational pesticides. There are several successful examples of the use of SIT against Lepidoptera including operational containment, suppression and eradication programmes: codling moth, pink bollworm, cactus moth Cactoblastis cactorum (Berg), painted apple moth Teia anartoides Walker, false codling moth Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick). In addition, there have been pilot projects to demonstrate feasibility in the field; e.g. gypsy moth Lymantra dispar (L.), tobacco budworm Heliothes virescens (F.), corn earworm, oriental fruit moth, carob moth Ectomyelois ceratoniae Zeller, and Asian corn borer Ostrinia furnacolis (Guenée). The Coordinated Research Project (CRP) In the past years, it has become clear that expansion of the SIT to more key lepidopteran pests will require improvements that increase the quality control and management of mass-rearing, irradiation, shipping, release and field assessment activities. During a consultants meeting at the IAEA in Vienna from 3-7 December 2007 3 key areas of research were identified that could improve the quality management of Lepidoptera for use in SIT programmes: 5 • identifying and characterizing factors and variables that affect quality and field performance of released moths; • developing and improving tools and methods to assess, predict and enhance the field performance of released moths based on insect quality; • developing new and improved methods for enhancing rearing systems, facilitating the selection for performance and fitness traits that improve colony establishment, refurbishment and production, and the field performance of released moths. The consultants considered a CRP as an excellent mechanism to deliver the required research. The Third Research Coordination Meeting (RCM) The 3 rd RCM of the RCP on “Increasing the efficiency of Lepidoptera SIT by enhanced quality control” was hosted by the USDA-APHIS-PPQ and held at the Fiesta Resort Conference Centre in Phoenix, Arizona, US (12-16 September 2012). Eighteen contract and agreement holders from 14 countries attended the meeting. In addition, invited speakers from USDA (Drs Bob Staten and Michelle Walters), Canada (Ms Cara McCurrach and Mr Scott Arthur), and South Africa (Mr Martin Wolfarther) gave presentations on the pink bollworm programme in the US, the SIR Codling Moth Programme in Canada, the SIT programme against codling moth in South Africa and on the use of strontium for marking sterile moths. The CRP also welcomed two new contract holders from Argentina and Chile. This third RCM was very well organised and the great efforts of the local counterpart Mr Greg Simmons are very much appreciated. The first two days of the RCM were devoted to presentations of the participants. They presented the progress made with their research since the last RCM in Stellenbosch, South Africa. From the presentations, it was obvious that most participants had made good progress and had been able to carry out most of the activities planned during the second RCM in Stellenbosch, South Africa. After reviewing the progress made so far, the participants discussed the work plans for the coming months. The details of the progress made so far and the work plans for the last phase of the CRP can be found in this working material document. The final RCM of this CRP is scheduled for 2-6 June 2014 and will be hosted by the Okanangan Kootenay Sterile Insect Release Progamme, in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. There were no major changes made in the programme or objectives of the CRP. Workshop on “Assessing quality management aspects of Lepidoptera mass produced for the Sterile Insect Technique in large operational settings” Prior to the third RCM, a 2-day workshop was organised and hosted by the USDA-APHIS-PPQ, Arizona on “Assessing quality management aspects of Lepidoptera mass produced for the Sterile Insect Technique in large operational settings” (10-11 September 2012). As part of the workshop, the group viewed the USDA Pink Bollworm Facility (Phoenix Arizona) that produces the sterile insects for the eradication programme in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California and northern Mexico (Sonora, Chihuahua). Participants were able to view and discuss the various quality control management issues that are put in place in the facility to ensure the production of high quality sterile insects for release. The group also viewed the loading of the release planes and the quality control aspects related to the chilled adult release system. During the workshop, discussions were held with staff of the Arizona Cotton Research Board and with scientists who have developed transgenic pink bollworm strains. The workshop also included a visit to the University of 6 Arizona, where Dr Bruce Tabashnik gave a presentation on the use of sterile insects as a substitute to “refugia” to manage resistance in pink bollworm on Bt cotton. In addition, a demonstration was given of the Picarro Carbon Isotope Analyser that uses stable isotopes to distinguish wild from mass produced moths. 7 AGENDA Third FAO/IAEA Research Co-ordination Meeting on ‘Increasing the Efficiency of Lepidoptera SIT by Enhanced Quality Control ’ 12-16 September 2012 Fiesta Resort & Hotel Phoenix, USA Wednesday 12 September 2010 Opening Session 08:30 – 08.45 Official opening of the RCM by Eoin Davis , Director, Pink Bollworm Rearing Facility, USDA-APHIS-PPQ. 08.45 – 09.00 Greg Simmons / Marc Vreysen - Administrative details, objectives of the meeting and outline of the agenda. SESSION 1: Chairperson: Greg Simmons 09.00 – 09.45 Invited speaker Bob Staten - Progress in eradication of the pink bollworm Pectinophora gossypiella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) across the Southwestern cotton belt. 09.45 – 10.00 Discussion 10.00 – 10.30 COFFEE BREAK 10.30 – 11.00 Harari, A. - Inherited sterility and quality control of Lobesia botrana 11.00 – 11.30 Lobos, C., G. Alvaro, G., and Eduardo, M. - Domestication and mass-rearing of Lobesia botrana 11.30 – 12.00 Saour, G. - Inherited sterility and irradiated male's flight ability in the European Grapevine Moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). 12.00 – 12.30 Carabajal, L.Z., Cagnotti, C.L., Viscarret, M.M., Ferrari, M.E., Lauría, J.P.