Seminar: The Sterile Insect Technique and its applications in Area-Wide programs

The sterile insect technique (Sterile Insect Technique - SIT) is a method of insect birth control that involves the release into the environment of sterilized adults, usually males, with the aim of reducing the fertility of the population of the same species. The SIT, generally applied in an AreaWide context in synergy with other control strategies, represents an opportunity for the management of invasive species in line with the principles of integrated pest management, with a minimum impact on other non-target species, for operators, producers and consumers.

The seminar will be divided into two parts:

• the first will focus on the principles of the sterile insect technique, highlighting the expectations and limits of the control strategy. Some historical successes will be described and it will be illustrated how to carry out an irradiation screening to evaluate the feasibility of a SIT program for the suppression of a pest species.
• the second part will focus on the description of some projects (carried out in collaboration with FEM) in which the sterile insect technique is used in an "improper" way, as a support and management of biological control programs. Insect pests: Ceratitis capitata, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, Halyomorpha halys, Bagrada hilaris.