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Chemosterilant Studies with the German Cockroach Author(s): G. S. Burden and B. J. Smittle Source: The Florida Entomologist, Vol. 46, No. 3 (Sep., 1963), pp. 229-234 Published by: Florida Entomological Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3493332 . Accessed: 12/06/2014 21:22 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Florida Entomological Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Florida Entomologist. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 185.44.78.31 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 21:22:21 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Chemosterilant Studies with the German Cockroach

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Page 1: Chemosterilant Studies with the German Cockroach

Chemosterilant Studies with the German CockroachAuthor(s): G. S. Burden and B. J. SmittleSource: The Florida Entomologist, Vol. 46, No. 3 (Sep., 1963), pp. 229-234Published by: Florida Entomological SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3493332 .

Accessed: 12/06/2014 21:22

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

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Florida Entomological Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to TheFlorida Entomologist.

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Page 2: Chemosterilant Studies with the German Cockroach

CHEMOSTERILANT STUDIES WITH THE GERMAN COCKROACH

G. S. BURDEN AND B. J. SMITTLE

Entomology Research Division, Agric. Res. Serv., U. S. D. A., Orlando, Fla.

The practical and efficient means of eliminating the various species of house-invading cockroaches is a problem to be coped with in spite of the various possible chemical, biological, and pathogenic control methods. The German cockroach (Blattella germanica [L.]) is the species of greatest concern in households as well as business establishments and control meth- ods sometimes give results that leave much to be desired. Satisfactory con- trol can be achieved by means of a carefully planned program which may entail the combined use of several methods or a single efficient method.

Among the methods that have given control of other species, the newest is the use of insects sterilized by radiation. It can be realized that the irradiation and subsequent release of sterile-male cockroaches in an in- fested house would pose a problem. Very few housewives would tolerate the introduction of more cockroaches into their homes in spite of any mass of scientific data proving the ultimate efficiency and value of such a tech- nique. In view of this fact it is conceivable that the use of a chemosterilant would be a more logical means of achieving the same results. It would be desirable to utilize a chemosterilant that would produce sterility in both sexes and act as a toxicant to those individuals not sterilized. This means of cockroach control could be accomplished by the use of highly attractive baits, residual spray or dust deposits, or a combination of these methods, depending upon the safety of the compounds used.

The use of chemicals to sterilize insects has been discussed by Knipling (1955, 1959, 1960) and Lindquist (1961). Folic acid antagonists have been used to induce sterility in female fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster Mei- gen) and house flies (Musca domestica L.) (Goldsmith and Frank, 19,52; Mitlin et al., 1957; LaBrecque et al., 1960), whereas alkylating agents, or radiomimetic compounds, have been used to sterilize male and female house- flies (LaBrecque, 1961; LaBrecque et al., 1962), two species of mosquitoes (Weidhaas et al., 1962), and the screw-worm fly (Cochliomyia hominivorax [Coquerel]) (Chamberlain, 1962). During the latter part of 1960, experi- ments were initiated at Orlando, Florida, to determine the effect of various chemicals on the development and fertility of German cockroaches, the re- sults of which are presented herein.

The studies were initiated by allowing nymphs to feed on their normal diet treated with candidate sterilants. All chemicals were evaluated ini- tially at concentrations of 0.05% and 0.5%; then, depending on the effec- tiveness of these tests, secondary evaluations were conducted at higher or lower concentrations. Fifty grams of pulverized, compressed dog food was saturated with 25 ml. of an acetone solution of chemical and thoroughly dried. The treated food was then stored in tightly closed jars. Second- nymphal-instar German cockroaches were placed in small battery jars con- taining harborages, water, and treated food. A control colony subsisting on untreated food was established for concurrent development. These small colonies (250 nymphs for each concentration of chemical) were main- tained and the effect of the chemicals on nymphal development was re- corded. These results are shown in Table 1.

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Page 3: Chemosterilant Studies with the German Cockroach

230 The Florida Entomologist Vol. 46, No. 3

TABLE 1.-EFFECTS ON NYMPHAL DEVELOPMENT OF VARIOUS CHEMICALS ADMINISTERED IN THE DIET OF GE!RMAN COCKROACH NYMPHS (250 NYMPHS PER TEST).

Percent Chemical concen- Effect on nymphs

tration

Aminopterin 0.05 Toxicant .5 Toxicant

Aphamide .05 No effect .5 No effect

1.0 Delayed development 2.0 Delayed development; partial toxicant

Apholate .05 No effect .5 No effect

1.0 Delayed development 2.0 Delayed development; toxicant

2-Chloroethyl .05 No effect methanesulfonate .5 Delayed development

1.0 Delayed development; partial toxicant Kepone .005 No effect

.01 Delayed development; partial toxicant

.05 Toxicant

.5 Toxicant Metepa .05 No effect

.5 No effect 1.0 Delayed development; toxicant

Methiotepa .05 No effect .1 No effect .25 Delayed development .5 Partial toxicant

Methotrexate 0.005 Partial toxicant .025 Toxicant .05 Toxicant .5 Toxicant

Methyl apholate .05 No effect .5 No effect

1.0 Delayed development Oxydiethylene 2-methyl- .05 No effect

1-aziridinecarboxylate .5 No effect 1.0 No effect

Tepa .05 No effect .1 No effect .25 Delayed development; partial toxicant .5 Delayed development; partial toxicant

Thiourea .05 Partial toxicant .5 Toxicant

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Page 4: Chemosterilant Studies with the German Cockroach

Burden: Chemosterilant Studies with Cockroach 231

At a concentration of 0.05% in the food, aminopterin (N-(p-([(2,4-di- amino-6-pteridyl)methyl]amino)benzoyl) glutamic acid), Kepone (decachlo- ro6ctahydro-1,3,4-metheno-2H-cyclobuta[cd]pentalen-2-one), and methotrex- ate were toxicants and thiourea was a partial toxicant to the nymphs. At this same concentration aphamide (N,N'-ethylenebis[P,P-bis (1-aziridinyl) -

N-methylphosphinic amide]), apholate, 2-chloroethyl methanesulfonate, oxy- diethylene 2-methyl-1-aziridinecarboxylate, metepa, methiotepa, methyl apholate, and tepa had no effect on nymphal development. As shown in Table 1, the 0.5% concentration, as well as the higher or lower concentra- tions of all chemicals used in the secondary tests, either caused delayed de- velopment, were toxicants or partial toxicants, resulted in a combination of these effects, or had no effect on nymphal development. Additional testing with aminopterin was not possible due to an exhausted supply.

Further tests were conducted with cockroaches fed treated food to de- termine whether the chemicals affected the reproductive potential of either sex. When the nymphs fed the treated food reached the last instar, the sexes were separated. The male and female nymphs were maintained separately in wide-mouthed quart jars containing harborages, water, and treated food. When adulthood was attained, 25 adults of each sex were crossed as follows:

Treated males X untreated females Untreated males X treated females Treated males X treated females Untreated males X untreated females (control)

The untreated adults were obtained from the normal colony and were of equivalent age. All crosses were maintained in wide-mouthed quart jars containing harborages, water, and untreated food. Observations were made on these crosses until the insects produced offspring or died. If offspring (F1) were produced, 25 male and 25 female nymphs were moved to another jar and observations were made on the viability of the oothecae produced by the F1 adults. Results of the effective compounds are shown in Table 2.

Aphamide at a concentration of 2.0% and methyl apholate at a concen- tration of 1.0% in the food caused sterility, as evidenced by crosses of treated males and females. With methyl apholate, a cross of treated males and untreated females and the reciprocal cross resulted in deformed o6thecae and delayed and/or reduced hatch. Due to high mortality in the feeding studies, sufficient specimens were not available for additional crosses to determine whether only one or both sexes were sterilized by 2.0%o of aphamide in the diet. Additional tests with these two chemicals will be necessary; however, the supply of aphamide may be limited.

Males fed the diet containing 1.0% of apholate were sterilized, as evi- denced by the treated-untreated and treated-treated crosses. Treated fe- males crossed with untreated males produced deformed and normal o6the- cae, which resulted in delayed and reduced hatch of the F1 generation. It was not possible to determine whether 2.0% of apholate would sterilize females since complete mortality occurred in both sexes tested at this con- centration in the feeding studies (Table 1).

Methiotepa at a concentration of 0.25% in the diet produced sterility in the male cockroaches, as shown by the crosses. The treated females crossed with untreated males produced deformed and normal oothecae, which

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Page 5: Chemosterilant Studies with the German Cockroach

232 The Florida Entomologist Vol. 46, No. 3

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Page 6: Chemosterilant Studies with the German Cockroach

Burden: Chemosterilant Studies with Cockroach 233

resulted in reduced hatch, as compared with the control. A diet containing 0.5% of this chemical also produced sterility, as evidenced by the treated- treated cross; however, due to high mortality, sufficient specimens were not available to determine whether the females were sterilized.

Males treated with 0.1%G of tepa were sterilized, as indicated by the treated-untreated and treated-treated crosses, but the productivity of treated females of the reciprocal cross was normal. At a concentration of 0.25% in the food, tepa produced sterility in both sexes. In addition to causing sterility, 0.5% of tepa was more toxic to the German nymphs than the 0.25% concentration. The remaining chemicals, and some of the others at concentrations evaluated but not included in the table, did not induce sterility nor did they prevent the females from producing viable o6thecae in the F1 generations.

SUM MARY

Twelve chemicals were evaluated as possible sterilants for German cockroaches by allowing nymphal stages to ingest treated diets. Crossing studies indicated that tepa caused sterility in males and females at a con- centration of 0.25% in the diet whereas only males were sterilized by a concentration of 0.1%. Apholate and methiotepa at concentrations of 1.0% and 0.25%, respectively, sterilized males whereas treated females pro- duced deformed and normal oothecae resulting in delayed and/or reduced hatch. Crosses with treated-treated sexes indicated that 1.0% methyl apholate in the diet would induce sterility, but crosses of a treated sex with an untreated sex resulted in the production of deformed but viable oothecae with delayed and/or reduced hatch. At a concentration of 2.0% in the diet, aphamide (N,N'-ethylenebis [P,P-bis (1-aziridinyl) -N-methylphosphinic amide]) produced sterility, as evidenced in a cross of treated males and females; however, high mortality prevented determining whether one or both sexes were sterilized.

LITERATURE CITED

Chamberlain, W. F. 1962. Chemical sterilization of the screw-worm. Jour. Econ. Ent. 55: 240-8.

Goldsmith, E. D., and I. Frank. 1952. Sterility in the female fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, produced by the feeding of a folic acid an- tagonist. Amer. Jour. Physiol. 171(3): 726-7.

Knipling, E. F. 1955. Possibilities of insect control or eradication through the use of sexually sterile males. Jour. Econ. Ent. 48: 459-62.

Knipling, E. F. 1959. Sterile-male method of population control. Sci- ence. 130: 902-4.

Knipling, E. F. 1960. The eradication of the screw-worm fly. Scientific American. 203(4): 54-61.

LaBrecque, G. C., P. H. Adcock, and Carroll N. Smith. 1960. Tests with compounds affecting house fly metabolism. Jour. Econ. Ent. 53: 802-5.

LaBrecque, G. C. 1961. Studies with three alkylating agents as house fly sterilants. Jour. Econ. Ent. 54: 684-9.

LaBrecque, G. C., Carroll N. Smith, and D. W. Meifert. 1962. A field experiment in the control of house flies with chemosterilant baits. Jour. Econ. Ent. 55: 449-51.

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Page 7: Chemosterilant Studies with the German Cockroach

234 The Florida Entomologist Vol. 46, No. 3

Lindquist, A. W. 1961. New ways to control insects. Pest Control. 29 (6): 9-19, 36-40.

Mitlin, Norman, B. A. Butt, and Thomas J. Shortino. 1957. Effect of mit- otic poisons on house fly oviposition. Physiol. Zool. 30: 133-6.

Weidhaas, D. E., H. R. Ford, J. B. Gahan, and Carroll N. Smith. 1962. Preliminary observations on chemosterilization of mosquitoes. Proc. 48th Ann. Meeting N. J. Mosq. Extermin. Assoc.

COLLECTION OF Two MOSQUITO SPECIES FOLLOWING SUBFREEZING TEMPERA- TURES-During the cold wave which brought record low temperatures to Tampa, Florida, December 12-14, 1962, collection of mosquitoeis was attempt- ed at MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa. The first and more severe of two subfreezing temperature periods began after 11 o'clock p.m. on December 12 and extended for almost 12 hours to 11 o'clock a.m. on December 13. A record low temperature of 18.5?F was recorded on December 13 at the base weather station between 7:00-8:00 a.m.

On the afternoon following the first freeze, attempts were made to col- lect adult salt marsh mosquitoes, but none was located either in the urban portion of the base or in the mangrove swamps on the southwest point of the MacDill peninsula. Tidal pools were also examined at that time for the presence of larvae. One pool yielded approximately 100 first and second stage larvae of Aedes taeniorhynchus (Wied.) and Anopheles atropus D. and K. The pool was located in an open area and had an estimated maxi- mum depth of about two inches. Larvae were shipped to the 6570th Epi- demiological Laboratory, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and reared to the adult stage.-William P. DuBose, Jr.'

t 1st Lieutenant, USAF, MSC, USAF Eplidemiological Laboratory, Lack- land AFB, Texas. The contents herein reflect the personal views of the author and are not to be construed as a statement of official Air Force policy.

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