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.本研究探讨了不育昆虫技术（sterile insect technique, SIT）与昆虫病原真菌联合应用防控埃及伊蚊（Aedes aegypti，双翅目：蚊科）的潜力，该蚊是登革热、基孔肯雅热及寨卡病毒的主要传播媒介。经辐照处理的埃及伊蚊雄虫可携带并将球孢白僵菌（Beauveria bassiana，子囊菌门）与金龟子绿僵菌（Metarhizium anisopliae，子囊菌门）这两种昆虫病原真菌的感染传播给同种雌虫。雄虫经辐照后会对其交配行为产生影响，但这并未对这两种蚊媒疾病防控策略的联合应用构成限制。