146 



program for the control and/or eradication of an insect species such as the 

 boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis Boheman. In earlier reports, male boll 

 weevils sterilized with apholate had a significant loss of vigor, and 

 apholate-treated male weevils mated less frequently than untreated males 

 when they were paired individually. This lack of sexual vigor oould be 

 caused by the sterilization and also, perhaps, by the rearing diet of the 

 weevils. However, the only practical way to obtain the large number of 

 weevils necessary for a sterile-male-release program is to rear them on 

 this artificial diet; that is, weevils reared on artificial diet would have 

 to compete with square- (flower bud) reared weevils during an eradication 

 program. We therefore designed laboratory tests to compare the sexual 

 competitiveness of square-reared and medium-reared chemosterilized males 

 with that of similar groups of untreated males. 



276. ; Lambert, W. R. ; and Davis, R. L. 1976. Evaluation of a trap crop 



system for boll weevil suppression. In Boll Weevil Suppression, Manage- 

 ment, and Elimination Technology. Proceedings of a Conference, 

 February 13-15, 1974, Memphis, Tennessee. U.S. Agric. Res. Serv. 

 [Rep.] ARS-S-71, pp. 90-94. 

 In general, this experiment confirmed results obtained in a similar experiment 

 conducted in 1972. That is, trap crops offer considerable potential as a boll 

 weevil suppression technique. The primary problem of implementing the trap 

 crop system tested is the difficulty of successsfully planting trap crops at 

 least 2 weeks before the remainder of the field. Most producers are reluctant 

 to delay their planting operation in this manner. However, the data indicate 

 that the trap crops should be planted much earlier than the regular crop if 

 optimum results are to be achieved. In a well controlled and organized sup- 

 pression program, eradication program or both, it may be possible to accom- 

 plish the necessary differential in planting of trap crops probably will in- 



