The acquired adaptability of insects to pesticides has led the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment researchers to think beyond the common methods of discouraging the “plague of insects.” Sidelining the regression to DDT and all, the researchers suggest sterilizing male insects to bring down their population. A sure element of sexiness creeps in as the “sterile insect technique” involves sprucing up the sterile males with more sex appeal.
Prof. Boaz Yuval and his team worked closely on some select fruit flies and mosquitoes and concluded that females prefer a “belly full of protein and balanced bacterial symbiosis.” Prof. Boaz says…
The process of rearing millions of male insects, sterilizing them and transporting them to the release site can severely affect their sexual competitiveness.
After feeding sterilized flies with a high protein meal and enhancing them with bacteria based on the natural strains, they were released into the wild to compete better with their wild counterparts. The enhanced sexual competitiveness repressed the birth rates effectively.
Via: Treehugger