VISUAL DETECTION OF SWEET-POTATO WEEVIL BY NONINVASIVE METHODS

Sweet potatoes, Ipomoea batatas (L.), infested with the sweetpotato weevil, Cylas formicarius elegantulus (Summers), were examined by radiography and ultrasound. No weevil life stage was clearly detected by radiographic methods. However, uninfested sweet potatoes and feeding tunnels in infested tuberous roots were clearly distinguishable. Thus, radiography could assist in the development of quarantine treatments. Ultrasound could not penetrate the root surface and did not produce an image.