Presented by E.H. Alleyne at the 7th Annual Technical Conference of the BSTA 1989

E. postfasciatus (West Indian sweet potato weevil) infests both stems and tubers of
sweet potatoes. It is not quite certain how the adults are
able to reach the tuber in the soil, but it is speculated that
they either travel along the paths created by the roots
and/or enter through cracks in the soil. However, sweet
potatoes grown during the rainy season or in irrigated
fields, suffer considerable tuber damage by the weevil,
despite the almost total absence of cracks in soil. The
biology of the insect has been described (Tucker, 1937
Alleyne, 1982). ’

Present status of knowledge affecting E. postfasciatus management pdf