An environmentally-friendly insect pest control method involving the mass-rearing and sterilization, using radiation, of a target pest, followed by the systematic area-wide release of the sterile males by air over defined areas, where they mate with wild females resulting in no offspring and a declining pest population. (IAEA, 2023 Sterile insect technique https://www.iaea.org/topics/sterile-insect-technique)
Steroids are a specific class of organic compounds, some of which are hormones, with various functions such as regulating metabolism, immune responses, stress responses, and controlling reproductive processes. (FAOLEX. 2025. Glossary https://www.fao.org/faolex/)
Coloration and/or body form that makes animals difficult to distinguish from their backgrounds, thus reducing predation. Light output may be used cryptically by pelagic luminescent organisms. (Johnson, R.K., B.J. Zahuranec, D. Boltovskoy and A.C. Pierrot-Bults. 2000. Glossary of Pelagic Biogeographic Terms. https://scor-int.org/Working_Groups/WG93_Glossary.pdf)
