Super-Sexed Insects

A new method for sustainable pest control using “super-sexed” sterilized male insects to copulate with female in the wild is being developed by agricultural researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The scientists are hoping to provide a new way of eliminating pests without the use of chemicals.

Professor Boaz Yuval at the Hebrew University's Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, is working on upgrading an old approach: the sterile insect technique. The premise is to raise millions of individuals of a pest species, separate the sexes, sterilize the males and release them into the field. It is expected that the sterile males will copulate with wild females, who will then be unable to lay fertile eggs, thus reducing the pest populations.