MARK AND RECAPTURE STUDIES OF HYLOBIUS-PALES (HERBST) (COL., CURCULIONIDAE) FOR MEASURING BAIT AND TRAP EFFICACY

The pales weevil, Hylobius pales (Herbst) (Col., Curculionidae) is an important regeneration pest of Pinus seedlings and a secondary pest of Christmas tree plantations in the United States. Attempts to sample t his endemic pest in Virginia, USA with simulated host odors of ethanol and turpentine have met with varying levels of success. Mark-and-reca pture techniques were used to assess the efficacy of various combinati ons of host volatiles, pine billets, and trap designs for capturing H. pales adults. No differences were observed in the number of H. pales caught between pit and PVC pitfall traps containing the same bait type . Traps containing freshly cut Pinus strobus L. billets caught signifi cantly more weevils than traps containing synthetic volatiles alone. T raps baited with freshly cut P. strobus caught significantly more weev ils than those containing P. strobus cut 2 months previously. The synt hetic attractant components of ethanol and turpentine were most effect ive when presented in a combined bait blend than when released from se parate vials. Overall, traps baited with combined blends of 5:1 ethano l-turpentine and freshly cut P. strobus were most effective in capturi ng H. pales. Hylobius pales showed no attraction to unbaited PVC pitfa ll or pit traps. Males and females responded similarly to all treatmen ts.