Wolbachia pipientis Hertig (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) is a maternally inherited endosymbiont of a large amount of insects and other arthropods that induces various effects on host reproductive biology, favouring the spread of the infection in uninfected populations. Among the effects, Cytoplasmic Incompatibility is a form of sterility induced in the eggs produced from mating between infected males and females uninfected or infected by a not compatible Wolbachia strain. This phenomenon has been proposed as a potential way for the production of functionally sterile males to be used in genetic control programs. In this paper, we report about experiments carried out to evaluate the mating performances of the males of an Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae) line (ARwP), harbouring a new Wolbachia infection (the wPip strain from Culex pipiens Linnaeus), in comparison with naturally infected males (SR line). ARwP males were not found to differ from SR with regard to insemination capacity, responsiveness to females and mating competitiveness. Moreover, the crosses with SR females were characterized by a 100% CI regardless of ARwP male age. All these findings suggest that ARwP males could be a very efficient tool for control programs against Ae. albopictus based on the release of functionally sterile males.

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