关键词: 鼠类, 鼠害, 不育控制, 炔雌醚, 左炔诺孕酮, EP-1

Abstract: Fertility control is attracting high attention in rodent pest control due to problems of traditional culling. Since the first report by Zhang in 2004,the anti-fertility effects of levonorgestrel and quinestrol (EP -1)on small wild rodents have been tested in several laboratories independently. Much progress has been achieved in fields of anti-fertility efficiency, dosage, baiting techniques, environmental safety and behavioral or molecular mechanisms of EP -1 and its compounds. Theseresults further revealed that EP -1 and its compounds were highly efficient and cost-effective in sterilizing both male and female rodents with a very low dosage, one pulse baiting, an across-year effect and relative environmental safety. The effective dosage of EP -1 and its components is about 10 -50μg/mL (0.001% -0.005% )or even lower; their half-lives are about 5 -16 days in soil and less than 3 days in water. One single baiting in the early breeding stage can effectively depress reproduction of wild rodents for the whole year, and the anti-fertility effect can be extend to next year. Thus, EP -1 and its components are very promising for practical use in the future. It is recommended that future studies should be directed at testing the current and across-year effects of EP -1 on more rodent species in the field, assessment of environmental safety, optimal baiting techniques and behavioral or ecological anti-fertility mechanisms of these compounds.