The effectiveness of the Boll Weevil Bait Stick to standard pheromone traps used in the Boll Weevil Eradication Program was compared. Traps, three types of bait sticks, or non-toxic bait sticks (standard bait stick without insecticide, each with 20 mg pheromone, were placed every 100 ft. around the 1000 ft. circumference of circles laid out in pastures. In the bait stick circles, traps were substituted for bait sticks at the northernmost and southernmost points. "Circles" which consisted of only a trap at the northernmost and southernmost points were used as controls. Laboratory-reared boll weevils were released at the center point of each circle, and the number of weevils collected in the northernmost and southernmost traps in each circle were counted. Thus, the treatment that resulted in the most weevils reaching the northernmost and southernmost traps would be the least effective. The treatments were replicated three times.

For control vs. non-toxic bait sticks vs. the standard wooden bait stick, control traps captured 156% more weevils than standard bait sticks and 48% more weevils than non-toxic bait sticks. Comparisons between pheromone trap circles and circles of two types of bait sticks resulted in captures in the pheromone trap circles that were 77% higher than polyvinyl chloride sticks and 49% higher than standard wooden bait sticks. In the third type of test, circles of standard bait sticks captured 74% more weevils than circles of bait sticks with insecticide-treated egg cartons attached.

Differences between the standard wooden bait stick and the PVC stick were not significant, but all other differences were significant. Thus, we showed that 1) bait sticks were more effective than pheromone traps in reducing the number of weevils captured; 2) since bait sticks with toxicant were more effective than those without toxicant, confusion induced by the pheromone in the sticks played only a minor role in their effectiveness; and 3) the use of added surface to the standard wooden bait stick increased its effectiveness.