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The weevil Scyphophorus acupunctatus Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Cuculionidae) is the most important insect pest of wild and cultivated agaves worldwide. This weevil causes direct damage while feeding and egg laying on host plants, and indirect damage due to the wounds on agave tissue that may serve as an entry for plant pathogens. Sampling and control of this weevil is complicated because of its cryptic habits. Thus, the use of synthetic aggregation pheromone-baited traps may be a useful tool for monitoring or control of this pest. The attraction of agave weevil to pheromone traps is synergized by the presence of host plant tissue. In this study, we evaluated the effect of the amount of fresh agave tissue and bagging of the plant tissue on the capture of S. acupunctatus with pheromone-baited traps in a blue agave crop. The highest captures of weevils were obtained in traps baited with the synthetic pheromone plus 400 g of agave tissue. Weevil capture rate was increased when the food bait was placed into a plastic bag or plastic container with holes as compared with unbagged food bait. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of height and distribution pattern of traps on the capture of Scyphophorus acupunctatus Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae) on blue agave (Asparagales: Asparagaceae) in commercial plantations was studied. Results showed that the trap height and the distribution pattern did not have an effect on the number of captured weevils per trap. In contrast, the inter-trap distance had an effect on the number of captured weevils per trap. For monitoring this weevil in blue agave commercial plantations, we recommend to use the pheromone and agave tissue-baited traps placed at ground level, at 200 m distance between traps, and distributed in a square distribution pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]