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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Byron, Georgia » Fruit and Tree Nut Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #368542
Research Project: New Tools for Managing Key Pests of Pecan and Peach

Location: Fruit and Tree Nut Research

Title: Efficacy of Sulfuryl Fluoride Against Fourth-Instar Pecan Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Pecans for Quarantine Security

Author
item Cottrell, Ted
item AIKEN, MICHAEL - Kansas State University
item THOMS, ELLEN - Emt Consulting, Llc
item PHILLIPS, THOMAS - Kansas State University

Submitted to: Journal of Economic Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/22/2020
Publication Date: 2/12/2020
Citation: Cottrell, T.E., Aiken, M.J., Thoms, E.M., Phillips, T. 2020. Efficacy of sulfuryl fluoride against fourth-instar pecan weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in pecans for quarantine security. Journal of Economic Entomology. 113(3):1152-1157. https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toaa021.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toaa021

Interpretive Summary: The fumigant sulfuryl fluoride was evaluated for control of larval pecan weevil in in-shell pecans. Larvae, collected as they naturally emerged from pecans, were used to artificially infest pecan nuts. Infested nuts were fumigated with six treatment dosages of sulfuryl fluoride within air-tight, glass containers. All larvae were dead in both fumigation treatments two weeks after fumigation. Fumigating pecans with sulfuryl fluoride can control larval pecan weevil infestations in commercially traded nuts and maintain compliance with quarantine regulations both within and outside the USA.

Technical Abstract: The efficacy of sulfuryl fluoride was evaluated for control of fourth-instar pecan weevil, Curculio caryae (Horn) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), at 25oC for a 24 h exposure. Larvae, collected as they naturally emerged from pecans, were used to artificially infest pecan nuts. Infested nuts were fumigated with six concentration × time (CT) treatment dosages of sulfuryl fluoride (0 – 750 g-h/m3) within air-tight, glass containers. The sulfuryl fluoride concentration in each fumigation container was analyzed 30 min after sulfuryl fluoride introduction and just prior to termination of the experiment. Mean sulfuryl fluoride CT dosages were calculated from sulfuryl fluoride measurements and were used for probit analysis. The lethal accumulated dosage (LAD99) of sulfuryl fluoride for pecan weevil was 1052.0 g-h/m3 with a 95% C.I. of 683.21-2573.0 g-h/m3. For the confirmatory trial, we used two sulfuryl fluoride CT dosage treatments, 1100 and 1300 g-h/m3, and a non-fumigated control. All larvae were dead in both fumigation treatments by 14 days post-fumigation. Due to higher mortality in the non-fumigated control in the confirmatory trial compared to that of the dose-response trial, 1300 g-h/m3 was selected as the sulfuryl fluoride CT dosage for a proposed quarantine treatment schedule. Fumigating pecans with sulfuryl fluoride can control larval pecan weevil infestations in commercially traded nuts and maintain compliance with quarantine regulations both within and outside the USA.