Project Number: 6615-22000-022-05
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Aug 16, 2006
End Date: Aug 31, 2008

Objective:
The objectives of this cooperative research project is to provide a basic characterization of the flight/mobility traits of adult cactus moths and to compare the field dispersal of adult male and female moths to the predicted dispersal/mobility potential obtained from laboratory flight assessment studies. This research will support the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) program being developed to control the spread of this invasive species in North America.

Approach:
Laboratory flight capacity and mobility will be quantified using computer-linked flight mills and actographs. Flight potential will be analyzed for moths that have undergone gamma radiation, the method of sterilizing insects released in the SIT program. Characterization of flight potential will also include unirradiated moths of both genders, adults emerging from the three different annual generations, and both mated and unmated moths. Mark-release-recapture field experiments will be conduced with mass-reared laboratory males using the trapping system previously developed by this laboratory. Since a female trap has not yet been developed, a grid of host trap plants will be arranged at various distances/directions from a female release point in pastured fields that do not contain native cactus plants. Trap plants will be assessed for eggstick deposition from the released mass-reared females.