Sexual sterilization of tobacco budworms with combination of oral chemosterilants and gamma irradiation

Substerile doses (0.01–0.1% w/v) of sulfanilamide, dicumarol, β-sitosterol, 2-imidazolidinethione, and imidazole were incorporated separately into the larval diet of Heliothis virescens (F.), and the resultant pupae were exposed to 7.5 or 15 krad of gamma irradiation. No chemical treatment or irradiation alone was as effective in producing sterile adults as all of the combinations, and none of the combinations affected larval growth and development, adult eclosion, or adult longevity. Although the fecundity of treated females was affected, the number of matings per female was affected only when the males were the treated member of the mating pair.