The aim of this work was to investigate the capture of Rhynchophorus palmarum in traps baited with its aggregation pheromone, 6-methyl-2(E)-hepten-4-ol (rhynchophorol), in association with sugar cane, pieces of pineapple fruit, and six volatile compounds from pineapple. A mixture of methyl and ethyl esters, being methyl octanoate and ethyl octanoate the most abundant, characterizes the volatile compounds from pineapple fruits. Traps baited with rhynchophorol in association with sugar cane and those baited with rhynchophorol in association with pieces of pineapple, showed no significant differences in the number of trapped weevils. However, both traps caught significantly more weevils, than those baited with rhynchophorol in association with pineapple volatiles. There were no significant effects from place and time or in the number of male and female weevils trapped.
Insecta; rhynchophorol; Ananas comosus; infochemicals
