Increased Field Trap Capture of the Mass-Reared Boll Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Fed Diet Supplemented with beta-Carotene

Abstract

Boll weevils, Anthonomus grandis grandis Boheman, reared on diet supplemented with beta-carotene found field targets (APHIS boll weevil eradication traps) at approximately twice the rate of weevils that were fed on unsupplemented diet used for massrearing boll weevils. Larval diet containing beta-carotene at (12 mg/kg) was optimal. The two-fold increase in trap capture was observed with boll weevils fed on diet supplemented with beta-carotene as larvae but not as adults. Boll weevils sterilized with 10 krad gamma irradiation were also trapped at an increased rate (about 2-fold) when fed the mass-rearing diet supplemented with beta-carotene. Twelve mg beta-carotene per kg artificial diet is slightly more than the concentration reported to occur in cotton squares on which larval boll weevils feed in nature. Mass-reared boll weevils are now fed as larvae on wet diet containing beta-carotene (12 mg/kg).