The smart aerial release machine, a universal system for applying the sterile insect technique

Beyond insecticides, alternative methods to control insect pests for agriculture and vectors of diseases are needed. Management strategies involving the mass-release of living control agents have been developed, including genetic control with sterile insects and biological control with parasitoids,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	PloS one Vol. 9; no. 7; p. e103077
Main Authors:	Leal Mubarqui, Ruben, Perez, Rene Cano, Kladt, Roberto Angulo, Lopez, Jose Luis Zavala, Parker, Andrew, Seck, Momar Talla, Sall, Baba, Bouyer, Jérémy
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Public Library of Science 18-07-2014 Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:	Aedes albopictus Agricultural practices Agriculture Agrochemicals Aircraft Animals Aquatic insects Biological control Biological pest control Biology and Life Sciences Biometrics Bluetooth Ceratitis capitata - physiology Competitiveness Control methods Conveyors Cooling Culicidae Diptera Dispersal Dispersion Flight Fruit flies Fruits Genetic control Homogeneity Infertility, Male - physiopathology Insect control Insect pests Insecta - physiology Insecticides Insects Life Sciences Male Males Medicine and Health Sciences Mediterranean fruit fly Methods Methyltestosterone Mobile operating systems Mosquitoes Muscidae Navigation systems Parasitoids Pest control Pest Control, Biological - methods Pests Relational data bases Schedules Senegal Species Sterilized organisms Strategic planning (Business) Tephritidae - physiology Tsetse Flies - physiology Vectors Guatemala Mexico France Senegal
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Summary:	Beyond insecticides, alternative methods to control insect pests for agriculture and vectors of diseases are needed. Management strategies involving the mass-release of living control agents have been developed, including genetic control with sterile insects and biological control with parasitoids, for which aerial release of insects is often required. Aerial release in genetic control programmes often involves the use of chilled sterile insects, which can improve dispersal, survival and competitiveness of sterile males. Currently available means of aerially releasing chilled fruit flies are however insufficiently precise to ensure homogeneous distribution at low release rates and no device is available for tsetse. Here we present the smart aerial release machine, a new design by the Mubarqui Company, based on the use of vibrating conveyors. The machine is controlled through Bluetooth by a tablet with Android Operating System including a completely automatic guidance and navigation system (MaxNav software). The tablet is also connected to an online relational database facilitating the preparation of flight schedules and automatic storage of flight reports. The new machine was compared with a conveyor release machine in Mexico using two fruit flies species (Anastrepha ludens and Ceratitis capitata) and we obtained better dispersal homogeneity (% of positive traps, p<0.001) for both species and better recapture rates for Anastrepha ludens (p<0.001), especially at low release densities (<1500 per ha). We also demonstrated that the machine can replace paper boxes for aerial release of tsetse in Senegal. This technology limits damages to insects and allows a large range of release rates from 10 flies/km2 for tsetse flies up to 600,000 flies/km2 for fruit flies. The potential of this machine to release other species like mosquitoes is discussed. Plans and operating of the machine are provided to allow its use worldwide.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Conceived and designed the experiments: RLM RCP RAK JLZL MTS BS. Performed the experiments: RLM RCP RAK JLZL MTS BS. Analyzed the data: RAK JB. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: RLM RCP RAK JLZL JB. Wrote the paper: RLM RCP RAK JLZL AP JB. Competing Interests: RLM is owner of the Mubarqui Company. RAK and RCP are employees of Mubarqui Company. This does not alter adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0103077