Field Evaluation of Red Palm Weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier Pheromone Lures

The red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is a key pest of coconut. The efficiency of pheromone lures sourced from three countries along with natural (sugarcane) and synthetic (ethyl acetate) co-attractants, was tested in the infested coconut plantation. The results revealed that synergists and co-attractants are essential to sustain trapping efficiency. The best weevil captures were obtained when the pheromone trap had both the natural food bait (sugarcane) and the synthetic co-attractant (ethyl acetate). Pheromone traps with only ethyl acetate as a co-attractant led to lower captures as compared to pheromone traps with only the food bait (sugarcane). In general, the captures were female dominant with an overall male: female ratio of 1:1.35.