EVIDENCE FOR VOLATILE MALE-PRODUCED PHEROMONE IN BANANA WEEVIL COSMOPOLITES-SORDIDUS

Females of the banana weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus, were attracted to and made longer visits to live conspecific males, trapped volatiles f rom males, and dissected male hindguts in a still-air olfactometer. Ma le weevils were attracted to volatiles trapped from males and made lon ger visits to live males and volatiles from males. Live females, colle cted volatiles from females and female hindguts, elicited small or no behavioral responses from either sex. Electroantennogram (EAG) respons es from both male and female antennae were elicited by collected volat iles from males and by dichloromethane extracts of male hindguts and b odies but not by surface washes of males. No significant EAG responses were given to equivalent material from females. It is therefore sugge sted that male banana weevils release an aggregation pheromone via the ir hindgut.