Field Evidence for an Attractant Produced by the Male Pepper Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

A small-scale field trapping experiment using caged Anthonomus eugenii Cano weevil adults in modified PMS Survey boll weevil traps was performed at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Bradenton, Fla. A significantly higher percentage of male-baited traps captured conspecific weevils than did female-baited or unbaited traps. Males and females were captured in all traps in similar proportions over the study. PMS traps alone also were somewhat attractive to the weevils. These field results support earlier laboratory results indicating pepper weevil males produce an aggregation pheromone.