Integrated approach for managing pepper weevil,Anthonomus eugenii Cano (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Florida

Pepper weevil, Anthonomus eugenii Cano (Coleoptera:Curculionidae) is an economic important pest of almost all cultivars of pepper, Capsicum annuum in regions where they are cultivated. Managing pepper weevil has been difficult because all immature life stages develop inside the fruit, making the adults the only targeted life stage to manage under field conditions.  As an integrated approach, we evaluated the efficacy of reflective plastic mulch and two standard insecticides for managing pepper weevil on Jalapeño peppers. The experimental design was a split-plot with four replications as the block, mulch treatments as the main plot, and insecticide treatments as the sub-plot. The three mulch treatments evaluated were: Can-Shine (Metalized top and white bottom), white on black (Can-Grow XSB) and bare soil with no mulch. The insecticide treatments evaluated were: thiamethoxam, oxamyl, and untreated control.  Pepper weevil population during Fall 2020 season was low and this could explain the non-significant differences in most of the parameters evaluated. The different insecticide types showed a significant effect on the number of pepper weevil infested fruits and the number of pepper weevil (larva+pupae+adult) in infested fruits compared to the untreated control. However, there was no significant effect on yield regardless of the plastic mulch types used.  In the Spring 2021 season, infested fallen fruits were lower and marketable yield were significantly higher in the treatments with the metalized plastic mulch. These results suggest that the use of reflective mulch in combination with thiamethoxam or oxamyl has potential in managing pepper weevil population and increasing yield.