The navel orangeworm is the most important insect pest of the multi-billion dollar California tree nut industry. With the eradication of the pink bollworm in the US, the lepidopteran mass rearing and sterilization center in Phoenix has been used for a pilot program examining use of the sterile insect technique for navel orangeworm. Recent field research indicates that females provided by the Phoenix facility have performed adequately after release in California, but male performance has been more of a challenge. Factors hypothesized as causes for these difficulties include irradiation dose, strain, and aspects of handling between the facility in Phoenix and release in California. Flight mill and wind tunnel experiments suggest that, for males, handling is more important than the other two factors. Current research includes: 1) used of insights on moth behavior to maximize recovery of released moths within the limits of the current system, and 2) chill injury experiments to examine the hypothesis that impact of handling is related to adult age, and can be decreased by changing initial collection procedures.
.jpg "Charles S. Burks photo")
