Cosmopolites sordidus

December 2003. A question from Malaysia on the efficincy of pheromones for trapping the Banana corm borer, Cosmopolites sordidus (and Odioporus longicolis, the stem boring weevil). How useful are the pheromones?

It was reported that a pheromone is avaialble in India and effective (although it was not sure which one. In Australia, the pheromone for Cosmopolites sordidus is commercially available from Dr Cameron Oeschlager from ChemTica, Costa Rica. The pheromeone is sordidin (no ‘e’). It hs been tested in Australia and found it can be up to ten times more attractive than conventional baits made from cut banana pseudostems. It is an interesting product since it is an aggregation pheromone (quite common in weevils) and attracts both sexes. I am not aware of any similar pheromone available for Oidoiporus.