Séminaire d'analyse
Sterile Insect Technique and Mass Trapping Strategies for Pest and Vector Elimination in Multi-Patch SystemsManon de la Tousche (Sorbonne Université)
Thursday 30 April 2026 14:00 - Tours - E2290
Résumé :
The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a biological control method aimed at reducing or eliminating populations of pests or disease vectors. This technique involves releasing sterilised insects which, by mating with wild individuals, will reduce the target population. In this work, we account for the spatial dimension by modelling the pest/vector population in a metapopulation model of $n$ interconnected patches. The main objective is to determine which zones are critical for intervention.
Using tools from monotone systems theory, we derive sufficient conditions for the elimination of the wild population through SIT. In the presence of a natural Allee effect, the releases can be finite in time, and we estimate a sufficient treatment time. Next, we study an optimisation problem consisting of minimising the total daily quantity of sterile insects to be released while ensuring the elimination of the wild population.
Using numerical simulations, we illustrate the theoretical results obtained and study different scenarios, including those where eleases are limited to certain orchards. Indeed, when implementing SIT in the field, some owners may be reluctant to allow releases on their property. We will also consider additional control by mass trapping, which can affect the sterile insects entering trapped areas, and see that although it increases the critical release rate, it reduces the duration of the SIT program and may decrease the total number of sterile insects released over the entire program. We focus in particular on the oriental fruit fly, which significantly impacts mango orchards in Réunion Island.
Using numerical simulations, we illustrate the theoretical results obtained and study different scenarios, including those where eleases are limited to certain orchards. Indeed, when implementing SIT in the field, some owners may be reluctant to allow releases on their property. We will also consider additional control by mass trapping, which can affect the sterile insects entering trapped areas, and see that although it increases the critical release rate, it reduces the duration of the SIT program and may decrease the total number of sterile insects released over the entire program. We focus in particular on the oriental fruit fly, which significantly impacts mango orchards in Réunion Island.
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