Ultraviolet light-emitting diode (UV LED) trap the West Indian sweet potato weevil, Euscepes postfasciatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Masako Katsuki, Yusuke Omae, Kensuke Okada, Toru Kamura, Takashi Matsuyama, Dai Haraguchi, Tsuguo Kohama, Takahisa Miyatake

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The West Indian sweet potato weevil Euscepes postfasciatus (Fairmaire) is a troublesome pest insect of sweet potato that originally came from the Caribbean, but is now expanding its distribution into the Pacific Islands. Although sterile insect techniques have been used against this pest in a demonstration experiment on Kume Island [Ohno et al. (2006) Kontyu to Shizen 41:25-30], effective methods of monitoring E. postfasciatus are scarce. It is necessary to detect the weevils at an early stage of invasion in uninvaded areas, and an attractant trap can be used to achieve this. Thus, we developed an ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diode trap, invented a method for diffusing the light to attract more insects, and investigated the attractiveness of the light trap to E. postfasciatus under laboratory conditions. Our results indicate that diffused UV light has a higher potential to attract E. postfasciatus than direct UV light. Furthermore, sweet potato is an effective bait to use to capture the weevils attracted by UV light. Thus, E. postfasciatus can be trapped using diffused UV light and sweet potato bait.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)285-290
Number of pages6
JournalApplied Entomology and Zoology
Volume47
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2012

Keywords

  • Monitoring trap
  • Phototaxis
  • Sterile insect technique
  • Sweet potato

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Insect Science

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