Publications des agents du Cirad

Cirad

Use of entomopathogenic nematodes for banana black weevil control

Chabrier C., Mauléon H.. 2003. In : Congresso Brasileiro de Nematologia, Petrolina, Brasil, 30 junho - 4 julho, 2003. s.l. : s.n., 1 p.. Congresso Brasileiro de Nematologia. 24, 2003-06-30/2003-07-04, Petrolina (Brésil).

The black weevil Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar) 1824 is one of the major pest of bananas. In French West Indies banana plantations, control of this pest is often based on insecticide applications. Therefore, considering the biology of the weevil, the use of entomopathogenic nematodes may give good results. In Guadeloupe and Martinique, researches have been led since more than 10 years to set up biological control methods. In a first step, different strains of entomopathogenic nematodes have been selected for their pathogenicity. Moreover, their survival ability in banana fields has been evaluated. These preliminary works have allowed the identification of two strains of Steinernema spp. as good candidate for C. sordidus control. On one hand, first field application tests used pulverization of nematodes suspension around pseudo-stems. But black weevils population declines were insufficient compared to results obtained with insecticides. On the other hand, mass-trapping using pheromone lure have given good field results, excepted when the C. sordidus population levels were very high. Pheromone traps may also be use to contaminate weevils with entomopathogenic nematodes instead of killing them. We are evaluating the interest of pheromone traps using pheromone lure on which we replaced each week 5 Galleria mellonella larvae previously inoculated with Steinernema carpocapsae (Weiser). Very promising results were obtained after 18-months study, with a better weevil than observed with two insecticide applications per year. (Texte intégral)

Mots-clés : musa; lutte anti-insecte; nématode entomopathogène; cosmopolites sordidus; pouvoir pathogène; steinernema; piège; phéromone; galleria mellonella; martinique; guadeloupe; france

Communication de congrès

Agents Cirad, auteurs de cette publication :