Effect of the Chemosterilant Hempa on the Yellow-Fever Mosquito and Its Liability to Induce Resistance

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Abstract
Treatment of larvae of the yellow-fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (L.), with 1280 ppm hempa induced small intra-chromosomal deletions after 36 hours, with broken chromosomes appearing after 48 hours. Larval selection with hempa resulted in a decrease in the percent sterility, induced by the chemosterilant, becoming evident at the F6 generation; however, sterility was higher than ever in the F0 generation. Since the sterility shown by the selected strain, whether or not after treatment, was greatly increased by inbreeding, it is suggested that the reversal of apparent increased tolerance was due to the acquisition of inheritable recessive genetic defects similar to and probably smaller than the intrachromosomal deletion observed cytologically.