Did the sterile insect technique or weather eradicate screwworms (Diptera:Calliphoridae) from Libya?

Journal of Medical Entomology
E S Krafsur, D A Lindquist

Abstract

The American screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax Coquerel, was detected in northwestern Libya in 1988. By August 1990, a screwworm epizootic extended over 26,000 km2 but collapsed in December and disappeared in April 1991. The relative contributions of winter weather and sterile insect releases on screwworm eradication in Libya were assessed by using temperature data and population demography. A screwworm overwintering threshold mean temperature of approximately 9.7 degrees C for 3 mo is supported strongly by published experimental and epizootiological data. In Libya, temperatures were above this overwintering threshold at Zawia, Sorman, and Tripoli weather stations. At Gharyan, in the interior highlands, mean winter temperatures from 1 December 1990 to 28 February 1991 were less than the putative overwintering threshold. No kill of screwworm pupae or adults was likely as a result of low temperatures near any weather station in the winter of 1990-1991. Evidence of screwworm overwintering in 1990-1991 was provided by the detection of a natural infestation in April and trap captures of numerous wild adult females in February, March, and April. Successful screwworm overwintering was highly probable in the coastal plain of Libya but...Continue Reading

Citations

Jun 17, 2005·Medical and Veterinary Entomology·A SiddigJ Slingenbergh
May 30, 2006·Veterinary Parasitology·Dwight D Bowman
Jan 28, 1998·Annual Review of Entomology·J H MyersE van Randen
Jan 1, 2012·Insects·Thiago Mastrangelo, John B Welch

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