Suppression of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) populations using the boosted sterile insect technique in Greece

Suppression of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) populations using the boosted sterile insect technique in Greece | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Suppression of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) populations using the boosted sterile insect technique in Greece Athanasios Giatropoulos, Georgios Balatsos, Vasileios Karras, and 8 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7065292/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 05 Nov, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The boosted Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) by releasing sterilized males coated with the larvicide pyriproxyfen has been suggested for the control of Aedes container-breeding mosquitoes. In 2023, a boosted-SIT field trial was applied in Greece against Aedes albopictus by weekly releases of pyriproxyfen-coated sterile males at the beginning (12 May-16 June) and peak (1 September-6 October) of mosquito activity, including two Mark-Release-Recapture sessions in July. No overall effect on egg densities was noted in the treated site, while a significant decrease compared to a control site was recorded in specific locations. The egg hatching rate in the treated site (56-57%) was lower than the control site (84-85%) during the release cycles and one month following the second release cycle. During the second release cycle and the following month, an overall suppression of the adult population was achieved (85-93% reduction compared to the control site), and high boosted sterile-to-wild male ratio (15:1) and competitiveness index of boosted-SIT males (0.46) were recorded, respectively. The suppression of both adult and egg populations was more pronounced a month after the conclusion of releases, indicating a residual activity of boosted-SIT. Our findings demonstrate the potential of boosted-SIT against Ae. albopictus particularly in suppressing adult population. Biological sciences/Ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology Biological sciences/Zoology boosted-SIT vector control pyriproxyfen mosquito adult suppression mosquito egg suppression Full Text Additional Declarations Competing interest reported. Jérémy Bouyer is co-founder and CEO of MoSITouch, a company offering vector control services, particularly the boosted sterile insect technique. Supplementary Files HLC2023June.csv HLC2023Aug.csv HLC2023Sept.csv OVI2023.csv SupplementaryInformation.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 05 Nov, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 04 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 02 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 28 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 26 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Aug, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 07 Aug, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 07 Aug, 2025 Editor invited by journal 07 Aug, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 28 Jul, 2025 First submitted to journal 28 Jul, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7065292","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":498792053,"identity":"e2da488a-5c78-4374-8ef9-7646d09c07fa","order_by":0,"name":"Athanasios Giatropoulos","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Benaki Phytopathological Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Athanasios","middleName":"","lastName":"Giatropoulos","suffix":""},{"id":498792054,"identity":"6b390fe6-0f4c-403d-8ef3-fedb64c62ce5","order_by":1,"name":"Georgios Balatsos","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Benaki Phytopathological Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Georgios","middleName":"","lastName":"Balatsos","suffix":""},{"id":498792055,"identity":"55a07f5e-7ac1-4652-aba5-8decf1e3b324","order_by":2,"name":"Vasileios Karras","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Benaki Phytopathological Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Vasileios","middleName":"","lastName":"Karras","suffix":""},{"id":498792056,"identity":"23ba59e3-8a90-48af-962f-fa2767ada3bd","order_by":3,"name":"Renaud Lancelot","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"ASTRE, CIRAD, INRAE, University of Montpellier","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Renaud","middleName":"","lastName":"Lancelot","suffix":""},{"id":498792057,"identity":"c93fb14c-cd20-4be9-8aeb-1dd71d26639e","order_by":4,"name":"Jérémy Bouyer","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"ASTRE, CIRAD, INRAE","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jérémy","middleName":"","lastName":"Bouyer","suffix":""},{"id":498792058,"identity":"2677fffd-a44f-494f-b4cb-6655296cf87e","order_by":5,"name":"Arianna Puggioli","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Centro Agricoltura Ambiente (Italy)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Arianna","middleName":"","lastName":"Puggioli","suffix":""},{"id":498792059,"identity":"7de34243-51be-4703-afda-f9adb1f05ec3","order_by":6,"name":"Romeo Bellini","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Centro Agricoltura Ambiente (Italy)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Romeo","middleName":"","lastName":"Bellini","suffix":""},{"id":498792062,"identity":"6d42d1cb-1d44-4ba4-98c8-d56571a625bc","order_by":7,"name":"Nikos T. 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In 2023, a boosted-SIT field trial was applied in Greece against \u003cem\u003eAedes albopictus\u003c/em\u003e by weekly releases of pyriproxyfen-coated sterile males at the beginning (12 May-16 June) and peak (1\u003csup\u003e \u003c/sup\u003eSeptember-6 October) of mosquito activity, including two Mark-Release-Recapture sessions in July. No overall effect on egg densities was noted in the treated site, while a significant decrease compared to a control site was recorded in specific locations. The egg hatching rate in the treated site (56-57%) was lower than the control site (84-85%) during the release cycles and one month following the second release cycle. During the second release cycle and the following month, an overall suppression of the adult population was achieved (85-93% reduction compared to the control site), and high boosted sterile-to-wild male ratio (15:1) and competitiveness index of boosted-SIT males (0.46) were recorded, respectively. 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