Abstract
A pitfall trap baited with sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas (L.), was developed to collect adults of the West Indian sweet potato weevil, Euscepes postfasciatus (FAIRMAIRE) in the field. Addition of 20 males or 20 females to the baited trap did not increase the trap efficiency. The number of captured weevils per trap decreased with days after planting sweet potato plants, suggesting that the nearby presence of potato tubers and stems affects the trap attractiveness. Few weevils were captured in fields where sweet potato plants had been transplanted more than one month earlier. The rate of weevils escaping from the traps after capture was higher in sweet potato fields than in grassland. The recapture rate after marking was 80% when captured weevils were released 1m from the trap, 13% at 10m, and 0% at 25m. In conclusion, the pitfall trap is effective for estimating the abundance and movement of this weevil in sweet potato fields soon after transplanting.
