title: Development of a mechanical sexing system to improve the efficacy of an area-wide sterile insect release programme to control American serpentine leafminer (Diptera: Agromyzidae) in Canadian ornamental greenhouses.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  American serpentine leafminer (ASL), Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess), is a significant pest of greenhouse ornamental crops, and females damage leaf tissue with their ovipositor during feeding and oviposition. The sterile insect technique has been advocated as a non-chemical alternative to currently available control methods. In area-wide sterile insect release programmes, males act as true vectors of sterility. Females should be eliminated from a cohort of pupae prior to irradiation to maximise production economics and sterility spread. The aim of this research was to develop a mechanical sexing system based on pupal size to reduce the proportion of ASL females.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cumulative frequency distributions were used to examine significant differences in male and female pupal length and dorsal and lateral width distributions. Optimum size cut-off points based on the largest differences in distribution curves were used to determine the dimensions of three different sieve designs. Sieve pores measuring 1.543 mm by 0.765 mm excluded 76% of female pupae and doubled the proportion of males in the throughput sample.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pupal sexual dimorphisms identified in this research can be used to design a sieve to aid in reducing the proportion of females prior to irradiation, thus improving the efficacy of an area-wide sterile insect release programme. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sultan
authors.affiliation: Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, Vineland, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Rose
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Buitenhuis
authors.affiliation: bioLogical control solutions, Welland, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Graeme
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Cynthia D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Scott-Dupree
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D002170:Canada; D004175:Diptera / Q000254:growth & development*; D004780:Environment, Controlled; D005260:Female; D007246:Infertility; D008297:Male; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D010572:Pest Control, Biological / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D011679:Pupa / Q000254:growth & development
keywords: Liriomyza trifolii; greenhouse pest control; pupal sexual dimorphism; sterile insect technique