A Pheromone-Based Trapping System for Monitoring the Population of Cosmopolites Sordidus (Germar) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Abstract

A Pheromone-Based Trapping System for Monitoring the Population ofCosmopolites Sordidus(Germar) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)The banana root borerCosmopolites sordidus(Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is native to Malaysia and Indonesia but is found in nearly all banana-growing areas of the world. Studies were conducted to determine the pheromone trap efficacy, effect of shade on trap catches and to monitor the population ofC. sordidususing pheromones in Guam. In Guam, pheromone traps were used to monitor the population level ofC. sordidus.Before monitoring began, two basic studies were carried out, which established that pheromone-baited ramp traps positioned in the shade of the banana crop canopy caught significantly more adults than those placed in sunlight and that ramp traps baited with pheromone lures caught significantly more adults than did identical traps without pheromone lures. Ramp traps baited with pheromone lures were set up at each of 10 locations throughout the island in November 2005. Weekly counts were made of the borers caught by the pheromone traps. The data indicated higher population levels (>10 per week) in the northern region and low (<5 per week) to medium level (5-10 week) populations in the southern part of the island. These differences among sites were highly significant. Linear and quadratic effects of rainfall on the number of borers captured were statistically significant, but according to quadratic regression models, the significance was due to differences at just one site.