DIR-SIT has been established with the objective of aiding the retrieval of information on facilities in the world mass rearing sterile insects, for purposes of using them to develop autocidal approaches or as part of operational area-wide integrated pest management programmes integrating the sterile insect technique, inherited sterility and related biological control approaches. For each facility and target pest the database compiles information on production capacity, the radiation process, quality control parameters and dosimetry. The major groups of insect pests for which DIR-SIT includes mass rearing information are fruit flies, mosquitoes, moths screwworm flies, and tsetse flies.