Developing Methods of Measuring Competitiveness of Sterilized Laboratory Insects. Part of a Coordinated Programme on the Use of the Sterile Male Technique for Control of Lepidopterous Insects Attacking Fruit and Forest Trees. Final Report for the Period 10 December 1973--14 April 1978

摘要

Optical and acoustical equipment were developed and tested for measuring insect activity, one of the parameters used to assess insect quality. The acoustical equipment which recorded the sound generated by moving insects performed well in the laboratory but was either unsuitable to measure the activity of populations as opposed to pairs or was unsuitable under field conditions. The optical equipment, however, based on light interception, performed well in the field also. In other studies the fitness of insects receiving various treatments was assessed on the basis of release-recapture experiments, number of matings and percentage sperm transfer. These methods proved very sensitive but were more laborious compared to automated recordings. (Atomindex citation 10:437203)