Pheromone trapping system for Rhynchophorus ferrugineus in Saudi Arabia: Optimization of trap contents and placement

Abstract

The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier is a major pest of date palm.  The pheromone-based mass trapping of weevils has traditionally been an important component of integrated pest management program for this pest. In order to maximize the trap catches, six field experiments were conducted in the present study including evaluation of stump trap, lures, lure synergist ethyl acetate, kairomones, food baits and yeast. The stump trap lured more weevils than the tree trap. The three tested pheromone lures were similar in attraction but with ethyl acetate, Ferrolure+™ lured more weevils than RHYFER™. Amongst the tested kairomones, acetic acid and ethyl acetate alone and together emerged as strong synergists to lure. The date fruits, date palm stem pieces and sugarcane pieces attracted similar number of weevils but in presence of ethyl acetate, date fruits attracted significantly more adults. Date fruits attracted more weevils with yeast than alone but overall, date fruits, yeast and ethyl acetate together recorded the highest trap catches. The differences in attraction of weevils due to various treatments have been analyzed and results are discussed.