Some Effects of Gamma Radiation on the Reproductive Potential of the Codling Moth, Carpocapsa pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Olethreutidae)

Abstract

This is the third paper in a series dealing with investigations, initiated in 1956, to determine if the codling moth, Carpocapsa pomonella (L.), might be eradicated in the Okanagan and Similkameen Vallevs of British Columbia by the release of sexually sterile moths. In the first twoe papers exposure to heat (Proverbs and Newton, 1962) and to gamma radiation (Proverbs and Newton, 1962a) were examined as methods of inducing sexual sterility. Heat was not satisfactory. However, exposure of fully developed pupae to 40,000 rads of gamma radiation induced almost complete sexual sterility (used in the broad sense) in the male moth without causing undesirable side effects. The female was more easily sterilized than the male.