Preparing the way for coming AW-IPM Projects against the New World Screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax, in Brazil and MERCOSUL

Since the 1950’s, the AW-IPM programs against the New World Screwworm (NWS), Cochliomyia hominivorax (Diptera: Calliphoridae), have been successful. There is a raising interest for its suppression in South America. Between January and May 2009, a pilot-project, supported by the BID and COMEXA, was performed at the Brazil-Uruguay border. As the results were positive, novel regional AW-IPM projects are being planned. To set a mass-rearing center based in South America is strategic when considering long-term programs. The CENA has a pilot-facility, built by the Ministry and supported by FAO/IAEA, which serves to give technical support to SIT projects. In partnership with the Biofactory MOSCAMED Brazil, a project started on 2009 and it aims to maintain a colony of a regional NWS strain, to develop a mass-rearing system and a sterilization protocol by X rays, and to study the sterility induction in regional strains. So far, a colony has been successfully established. The parental generation came from Central Brazil. The adults are kept in cages (75x151x91.5 cm) and fed on a diet (honey, spray dried blood and egg). The larvae grow in a medium made of spray dried blood, spray dried egg, milk, sodium citrate, citric acid, water, formalin and ground meat.The colony has been reared for 9 generations. Egg hatch has been of 70±10%. From F₁ to F₉, the total amount of pupae produced was about 14 L (~ 116,200 pupae). The mean adult emergence and sex ratio were 86.7±3% and 0.59±0.08 respectively. The mean pupal weight was 47.1±1.7 mg. To produce 1.5 L pupae, the current cost is about US$ 35.00. Tests to eliminate the meat from the larval diet and to introduce local bulk agents (as sugarcane bagasse and coconut fiber) are underway and will decrease the rearing cost. Field tests using the Swormlure-4 as attractant to determine the distribution and densities of NWS populations are also underway.