Age and fecundity of female red palm weevils Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Rhynchophoridae) captured by pheromone traps in coconut plantations of India

The age and fecundity of female red palm weevils Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) captured in food-baited pheromone (4-methyl-5-nonanol) traps placed in coconut plantations of Goa in Western India was assessed in the laboratory. Captured weevils were young and gravid. About 85 per cent of pheromone trap-captured female weevils confined to a celibate life in the laboratory were fertile and laid viable eggs indicating that they had already mated before entering the traps. The opportunity to mate enhanced oviposition and egg viability, while reducing the post-ovipositional period of pheromone trap captured female weevils. The findings signify the potential benefit of using food-baited pheromone traps in mass trapping programmes to curtail the population build up of red palm weevil in the field. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.