Olfactometer response of red palm weevil (RPW) (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and its biology for the evaluation of resistance in the commercially grown date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cultivars in Pakistan

Date palms (P. dactylifera L.) are prominent in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Iran, UAE, Iraq as well as Algeria, Egypt and Pakistan. However, in Pakistan, the commercially grown cultivarsare Aseel, Dhaki, Falsi, Karbalai, Mozawati, Jan Swore, Kohra, Hillawi, Kohra and Begum Jhangi. R. ferrugineus considered as the chief and hazardous insect pest responsible for damage in palm orchards. this work probe the predilection of RPW in 11 divergent palm cultivars (Hillawi, Mozawati, Kechanr, Aseel, Shamrani, Khudravi, Dhaki, Zeri, Kobra, Zaidi, Denda) which frequently grown in different regions of Pakistan associated by way of impulsive expulsion from tissues of palm leaf using Y-shaped olfactometer for research. In addition, level of both antixenosis and antibiosis was spotted by examining the various parameters such as %age lure of weevils of mature female, general count of laid eggs in addition to their activeness. Furthermore, obtained results depicted that a positive contact was establish with minimum antixenotic consequence revealed by a cultivar, “Hillawi” among most hold of RPW adults (22.32%), number of eggs laid (16.66%) and egg hatching (84.66%). While other cultivars including Mozawati, Aseel, Kechanr, Shamrani, Khudravi, Dhaki, Zeri and Zaidi exhibited level of antixenosis with percent weevils attracted (18.13, 17.25, 14.67, 6.17, 5.88, 5.59, 3.5 and1.5%), no. of eggs laid (15, 14, 12.66, 10, 5.66, 4.33, 2.33 and 1.33) along with egg hatching percentages (82, 72.66, 68.33, 53.66, 37.66, 31, 13.33 and 5.66%) respectively. Moreover, “Hillawi” documented the maximum number of eggs similar with strains like Kechanr, Mozawati as well as Aseel while Kobra and Denda showed minimum attraction by RPW. Maximum RPW (6) were attracted in an olfactometer assay of sugarcane varieties.