The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT)
The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) was developed by Drs. Edward Knipling & Dr. Raymond Bushland from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the 1950’s to help combat screwworm infestation in cattle.
There are advantages to using the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) as opposed to a method based largely on chemical insecticides.
The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is:
• Environmentally-friendly
• Does not contaminate natural food chain
• Benefits wild/stray animals
• Focuses on the specific species to be eradicated
• Does not pose a threat to human health
A Step-by-Step
Look at the SIT in
1. Screwworm pupae are irradiated and sterilized at the COMEXA plant
in
2. Sterile pupae
flown to
3. -20 million sterile flies released per week
-Sterile flies are released in special boxes
-Sterile flies mate with the local screwworm flies and produce no offspring.