Sterile Male Mathematics
Let's imagine a hypothetical insect pest with an initial population of 2,000,000 individuals. The sex ratio is 1:1, so there are one million males and one million females. If each female produces an average of five daughters that live to reproduce, then the value of "R" (the population's replacement rate) equals 5. This is a rapidly growing population! In six generations, it will grow from one million females to 3.125 billion:
Now let's try to control this population by releasing sterile males each generation. If we can release 9 million sterile males during the first generation, then there will be a total of 10 million males competing for one million females. Females will have only a 10% chance (1 in 10) of mating with a fertile male. (Assume females mate only once and sterile males are equally competitive with fertile males for unmated females). Continue to release 9 million males each generation and the population heads quickly toward extinction:
Generation | If No Sterile Males | If Sterile Males Present | Males to Females |
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