Olfactory Attraction of Rhizome Borer (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to Banana Genotypes Inoculated with Entomopathogenic Fungus

Abstract

The species: Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) stands out as one of the main pests of banana. The damage to the crop is caused by the larvae of this pest, when they feed on the plant tissues. The aim of this study was to investigate the olfactory responses of C. sordidus for different varieties and the possible olfactory interference after application of Beauveria bassiana fungus on the crop. The research was conducted at the Phytosanitary Clinic in the Agriculture Sector of the Center for Humanities, Social and Agrarian Sciences of the Federal University of Paraíba, located in Bananeiras - PB, Brazil, from January to July 2017. The experimental design was completely randomized, with four treatments represented by banana varieties (Apple, Silver, Nanica and Pacovan) with 11 replications each. The bioassays were distributed in two stages; the first stage was an evaluation of the attractiveness of banana genotypes and rhizome and pseudostem tissues. In the second, the attractiveness of C. sordidus to the tissues contaminated with the fungus B. bassiana was investigated. The Prata banana plantation was less attractive to C. sordidus, the highest preference was to the Nanica banana plantation. The most attractive tissue was pseudostem. Given the conditions under which the study was conducted, the banana plantation and the plant tissues analyzed present an olfactory influence under Cosmopolites sordidus. The Nanica banana plantation is the most susceptible to insect attack. The application of the fungus Beauveria bassiana on banana baits does not interfere with the odour conditions exerted the nanica banana plantation under C. sordidus.