Hot-water treatment for the control of the banana weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus Germar (Coleoptera : Curculionidae), in Uganda

Paring and hot-water treatment of banana suckers have been recommended to p revent the spread of banana weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus Germar, into new banana plantations. Mortality of banana weevil eggs and larvae were recorde d after immersion of infested banana suckers in four hot-water regimes: 43 degrees C for 2 hours, 43 degrees C for 3 hours, 54 degrees C for 20 minute s and 60 degrees C for 15 minutes. Paring removed 90 % of banana weevil egg s, while all hot-water treatments resulted in 100 ro mortality of eggs. How ever, only hot-water baths of 43 degrees C for 3 h resulted in high mortali ty (94 %) of weevil larvae. Larval mortality in other treatments ranged fro m 26-32 %. It is unlikely that Ugandan farmers will implement three-hour ho t-water baths for banana weevil control. Also, the hot-water treatment that is most effective for nematode control (54 degrees C for 20 min) provided limited control of banana weevil. The data suggest that paring alone may be the most appropriate measure for resource-poor farmers to eliminate banana weevil from planting material.