Assessing competitive fitness of irradiated painted apple moth Teia anartoides (Lepidoptera Lymantriidae)

Abstract

The Australian painted apple moth (Teia anartoides) has been the target of an eradication programme in Auckland For the first time in New Zealand the sterile insect technique has been deployed using males moths irradiated as pupae at 100 Gy Sterilisation of males has a fitness cost which was assessed in terms of longevity and competitive fitness Irradiation at 100 Gy had no effect on longevity of male painted apple moths However when released in separate groups in the flight tunnel irradiated males were less likely to reach calling females than untreated males (Plt;0001) When single irradiated (100 Gy) males and untreated males were released together as a pair irradiated males also showed lower arrival to females (Plt;0005) However once the males successfully located the females there were no significant differences between the controls and the irradiated males in the total time spent for mate location mounting attempts and mating duration