92 - Lee County Mosquito Control’s egg-cellent adventure: Using oviposition surveillance as a component of the sterile insect technique

In 2017 Lee County Mosquito Control District began a sterile insect technique (SIT) program targeting Aedes aegypti on Captiva Island. The first step was the establishment of an entomological baseline in the area through a comprehensive surveillance program. While mosquito surveillance often focuses on adults, oviposition monitoring is an important component that can help reveal population dynamics and density, while also providing information on background sterility in the area. After the establishment of an entomological baseline, and once sterile male releases begin, data collected from continued oviposition surveillance can aid in determining the successful progression of a sterile release program and assist in locating areas that might require additional releases. Furthermore, viable eggs collected from the surveillance area are hatched in the insectary, reared to adults, sexed, and identified to species. Through these efforts, we have found that other species, including Aedes albopictus and Aedes triseriatus, also utilize our ovicup containers. Eggs collected from ovicups were the foundation upon which we began the strain of Ae. aegypti that we use for mass rearing and sterile male releases. As we continue to obtain eggs from the field, mosquitoes reared from these eggs are used to maintain genetic diversity in our colony. These added individuals help to limit negative colonization impacts, inbreeding, and ensure that our released males have a genetic background similar to that of the field population. Oviposition surveillance not only helps us to plan our sterile male releases, but it also helps us to produce better insects.