Population control in the Australian sheep blowfly, Lucilia cuprina, by the release of female-borne chemosterilant. I. Female to male transfer of chemosterilant during mating

Abstract

N,N'-tetramethylene-bis-(1-aziridinecarboxamide), applied topically, sterilized male and female Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann) at a dose of 10 µg per fly. Females tolerated 800 µg per fly. A female 'booby-trapped' with 400 µg of sterilant could transfer a sterilizing dose to a male during copulation. Booby-trapped females were sexually attractive and sterile males were as sexually vigorous as fertile males. The introduction of either booby-trapped females or sterilized males into cage populations caused a greater drop in fertility than expected, but the effect was probably due more to unspecific contact between flies than to mating contacts.