Seasonal Activity of Red Palm Weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugi-neus (Olivier) in Response to some Olfactory Stimulants

Abdel Kareim, A. I.; Rashed, A. A.; Mohamed, A. M.; Ahmed, F. M. S.

doi:10.21608/jppp.2018.42179

Seasonal Activity of Red Palm Weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugi-neus (Olivier) in Response to some Olfactory Stimulants

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Faculty of Agaric, .Mansoura Univ.

² Central Laboratory of Date Palm Development and Researches, Agric. Research Center, Ministry of Agric., Giza, Egypt.

³ Plant Protection Research Institute, Dokki, Giza, Egypt

10.21608/jppp.2018.42179

Abstract

Seasonal activity of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus adults had been studied during two successive years (2014 and 2015) in date palm orchards located at Mashtoul el- Souq district, Sharkia Governorate by using traps baited with different olfactory stimulants (aggregation pheromone, kairomone (Acetyl acetate) and their mixture). Red palm weevil population exhibited the highest activity in response to pheromone mixed with kairomone followed by pheromone alone with no significant between them in comparison with kairomone alone. Pheromone mixed with kairomone attracted the highest numbers of R. ferrugineus in the 1^st and 2^nd years (1.3 ± 1.1 and 1.6 ± 1.1 individuals/trap/week, respectively) followed by pheromone alone (1.2±0.9 and 1.3 ± 1.1 individuals/trap/week, respectively) with no significant difference, while, kairomone traps was less significant preferred (lured 0.1 ± 0.2 and 0.24 ± 0.2 individuals/trap/week, in the first and second years, respectively). R. ferrugineus population exhibited 3-4 peaks of abundance, and the highest occurrence was during July - August in both years of study. The efficiency of pheromone traps contained date fruits were significantly increased in comparison with traps without fruits. However combination of pheromone + kairomone + food bait recorded significantly higher mean cumulative RPW capture with 14.3, 19.5, 23.5 and 27.7 % of total capture of weevils in traps contained 02., 0.4, 0.7 and 1 kilogram of date fruit respectively. In the second year, these percent was 13.2, 15.0, 17.8, 23.9 and 24.6%, respectively. It could be concluded that co-attractants based on fermenting date fruits (0.7 Kg./trap) and ethyl acetate, are able to improve the attractant level of ferrugineol.