Irradiated males of the mosquito Aedes aegypti (Diptera, Culicidae) as disseminators of the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae under laboratory condition

We studied the potential combination of the sterile insect technique (SIT) and entomopathogenic fungi for the control of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae), the main transmitter of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. Irradiated Ae. aegypti males were able to transport and transmit an infection of both Beauveria bassiana (Ascomycota) and Metarhizium anisopliae (Ascomycota) entomopathogens to conspecific females. The irradiation of males affected the mating behavior, but this did not represent a limitation for the combination of both control strategies of disease-carrying mosquitoes.