IMPORTANCE OF DATE FRUIT IN RED PALM WEEVIL, RHYNCHOPHORUS FERRUGINEUS OLIVIER (COLEOPTERA: CURCULIONIDAE) AGGREGATION PHEROMONE TRAPS

,�Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Abstract � Experiments were conducted in four date palm plantations at AL-Rahbba from May 2004 to April 2005. Twelve traps, in each plantation, were used to know the importance of adding dates, as a bait, to the traps of the red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Curculionidae: Coleoptera) to enhance the number of captured insects. The traps contained the aggregation pheromone (4- Methyl-5-Nonanol 90% + 4- Methyl-5-Nonanon 10%) and 350g of dates to compare their catch with the catch of traps containing either the pheromone alone or dates. The pheromone lure in each trap was changed every three weeks, while the water and dates were changed every 2 weeks. The number of RPW captured in the 16 traps were 1752, 181 and 54 insects for the three treatments, respectively. There were significant differences between the three treatments. The first treatment catch value was 10 and 32 folds of the second and third treatment value, respectively. The second treatment catch value was more than three folds of the third treatment catch value. The experiment also showed that adults RPW were present throughout the year, and the number of females was higher than the number of males. The numbers of captured insects were 420, 452, 542 and 573 adults in the four plantations, respectively. The reason behind the variation in numbers could be explained by a variety of factors such as farm practices, differences in tree age and sources, farmers knowledge, etc. �