Efficacy of bait sticks versus pheromone traps for removing boll weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from released populations

The efficacy of bait sticks (boll weevil attract and control tubes) in removing boll weevils. Anthonomus grandis grandis Boheman, from released populations was compared with that of pheromone traps. Coating the sticks with a sticky material allowed us to determine that >3 times more boll weevils were captured on bait sticks than were captured in traps. Laboratory studies showed that nearly 100% of weevils allowed to crawl for 0.5min on bait sticks aged in the field for up to 6 wk died within 24h. During field observations 86% of native weevils spent >0.5 min on the sticks; average time was 3.2min. Considering the results of the 3 types of tests, we concluded that bait sticks are ≍3 times more effective than traps in removing weevils from the population.