PEST MANAGEMENT AND SAMPLING Variation in Boll Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Captures in Pheromone Traps Arising from Wind Speed Moderation by

ABSTRACT Paired trap lines of Þve boll weevil pheromone traps each were placed on opposite sides of a brush line at six different sites on a plantation in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Temperature, wind speed, and wind direction were monitored with a nearby weather station. We observed a strong negative relationship between mean daily wind speed and total daily capture of boll weevils. About half of the day-to-day variation in weevil captures was explained by wind speed alone. In addition, our data indicate that much of the variation between traps within days may arise from differences in local wind speed as governed by local vegetation depending on wind direction. Brush lines in this study slowed the wind by 40—70 % and mitigated its effects such that traps on the leeward side averaged 2.5—2.9 times higher captures than traps on thewindward side. Themagnitude of the effect ofwindward or leeward placement of traps onweevil captures depended on the relativ