Monitoring sweetpotato weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) with sex pheromone: Effects of dosage and age of septa

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Abstract
Studies were conducted to determine the potential of a synthetic sex pheromone that attracts only males for monitoring sweetpotato weevil, Cylas formicarius elegantulus (Summers), populations in southern Florida, the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Trap counts consistently increased with an increase in pheromone dosage. Slope values from the regressions of log10weevil counts on log10 dosage and arcsine‐transformed percentages of weevils caught per dosage on log10 dosage did not differ among most trials despite large differences in weevil densities and time of year. In St Croix, US Virgin Islands, septa aged outdoors were as attractive as fresh septa (refrigerated septa) for up to 7 weeks (49 days). In southern Florida, trap counts decreased with an increase in septum age. From a practical perspective, however, aged septa were almost as attractive as fresh septa for at least 30 days. Results from these studies indicate that a dosage of 10 μg of pheromone formulated on methylene chloride‐extracted rubber septa is adequate for monitoring weevils in southern Florida and the Caribbean. Also, when pheromone is formulated on methylene‐chloride extracted rubber septa, septa can be used continuously for at least 30 days. perhaps longer, without a substantial decrease in attractiveness.