Evaluating the impact of stressors on the quality and performance of tsetse flies for the sterile insect technique

Summary

My thesis evaluates various stressors affecting the mass rearing and post mass rearing processes ( transportation and release) on the quality and performance of irradiated male tsetse flies, used for the sterile insect technique (SIT). SIT is a vector control method used to manage (suppress) and eradicate problematic insects such as the tsetse flies which transmit the trypanosomiasis disease in humans and livestock in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is important to assess the performance of irradiated flies to ensure that the processes that take place before release do not affect how competitive the fly will be after release in an SIT program, as they have to compete with wild males for wild females. Good quality flies are a prerequisite for a successful SIT program.