Aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito) OX3688

Product profile

OX3688 is a female-flightless RIDL strain. When mosquitoes are reared without the antidote, tetracycline, adult females cannot fly or mate. Flightless females in the wild cannot seek hosts or mates, take a blood meal or spread disease. They are likely to be rapidly eaten by predators so this trait is equivalent functionally to a lethal condition. Continual releases of sufficient numbers of RIDL males will reduce the target population to below the level needed to transmit disease or cause a significant nuisance. The strain contains the DsRed marker which is clearly visible in larvae, a useful tool for quality control in production and effective monitoring in the field. OX3688 is available in an Asian genetic background.

The advantage of this strain is that males and females can be easily and accurately sorted prior to release, removing the need for manual separation which leads to some damage from handling. Sex separation is 100% accurate. The strain also offers greater flexibility in distribution because eggs, as well as adults and pupae, can be distributed.

Status

OX3688 is the first homozygous prototype developed with RIDL. Rutger’s University in New Jersey, USA, has obtained permits for import and contained evaluation, and has started testing OX3688. Further strains are in optimization at Oxitec.