Data on the abundance of the banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus and of the earwig Euborellia caraibea in bare soil and cover crop plots

Abstract

The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled “Cover cropping reduces the abundance of the banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus but does not reduce its damage to the banana plants” (Carval et al., in press) [1]. This article describes how the abundance of the banana weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus, and the abundance of the earwig Euborellia caraibea were affected by the addition of a cover crop. The field data set is made publicly available to enable critical or extended analyzes.

Specifications Table

Subject area	Biology
More specific subject area	Field survey of a banana pest
Type of data	Table, figure, text file
How data was acquired	Field survey
Data format	Raw, filtered
Experimental factors	Features of the banana weevils (maturity) and spatial coordinates of samples were recorded
Experimental features	Field data: trap catches of weevils and earwigs in 3 bare soil and 3 cover crop plots of banana plants
Data source location	14°39′45.04″N; 60°59′59.08″W
Data accessibility	Data is available with this article

Value of the data

• •The data is valuable for other researchers working on this pest or in similar scientific field.
• •This data offers the opportunity to other researchers to compare with their own datasets.
• •This data enables other researchers to independently verify or extend statistical analyses.

1. Data

The dataset provided in this article gives information on the abundance of the banana pest Cosmopolites sordidus and the predator Euborellia caraibea in banana plots with or without the cover crop Paspalum notatum. Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 4 display details on the population dynamics and composition (teneral vs. mature weevils) across sampling dates. Table 1 provides the corresponding filtered data. Appendix A contains raw data with spatial coordinates.

Fig. 1.

Number of the mature adults of C. sordidus per plot as affected by sampling date and soil cover. Black points: bare soil plots; gray points: cover crop plots.

Fig. 2.

Number of the teneral adults of C. sordidus per plot as affected by sampling date and soil cover. Black points: bare soil plots; gray points: cover crop plots.

Fig. 3.

Proportion of teneral adults relative to all C. sordidus adults per plot as affected by sampling date and soil cover. Black points: bare soil plots; gray points: cover crop plots.

Fig. 4.

Number of the earwigs per plot as affected by sampling date and soil cover. Black points: bare soil plots; gray points: cover crop plots.

Table 1.

Abundances of the earwig E. caraibea and of the weevil C. sordidus (total, teneral and mature adult numbers) per plot at each sampling date. BS: bare soil plots; CC: cover crop plots.

Sampling date	Plot	Soil type	Number of earwigs	Number of weevils	Number of teneral weevils	Number of mature weevils	Proportion of teneral weevils (%)
1	P1	BS	9	43	7	36	16.28
2	P1	BS	29	98	13	85	13.27
3	P1	BS	38	59	9	50	15.25
4	P1	BS	41	81	20	61	24.69
5	P1	BS	13	48	7	41	14.58
1	P2	CC	12	33	11	22	33.33
2	P2	CC	11	76	29	47	38.16
3	P2	CC	9	36	21	15	58.33
4	P2	CC	10	24	9	15	37.50
5	P2	CC	1	19	7	12	36.84
1	P3	BS	10	62	6	56	9.68
2	P3	BS	36	127	34	93	26.77
3	P3	BS	40	46	17	29	36.96
4	P3	BS	37	52	9	43	17.31
5	P3	BS	14	27	3	24	11.11
1	P4	CC	6	49	12	37	24.49
2	P4	CC	18	38	11	27	28.95
3	P4	CC	4	18	9	9	50.00
4	P4	CC	15	38	16	22	42.11
5	P4	CC	1	33	9	24	27.27
1	P5	BS	4	21	1	20	4.76
2	P5	BS	33	38	4	34	40.53
3	P5	BS	65	24	5	19	20.83
4	P5	BS	21	33	3	30	9.09
5	P5	BS	13	38	7	31	18.42
1	P6	CC	1	20	2	18	10.00
2	P6	CC	7	42	21	21	50.00
3	P6	CC	6	24	12	12	50.00
4	P6	CC	15	24	9	15	37.50
5	P6	CC	9	48	23	25	47.92

2. Experimental design, materials and methods

The experiment was conducted in six plots were established, each with an area of 361 m² and with 49 banana plants (Cavendish Grande Naine cultivar). The cover crop P. notatum was planted in three of the plots (CC soil type plots) while the other three plots were maintained with bare soil (BS soil type plots) through the use of herbicide (glyphosate). Banana weevil and earwig abundances were estimated with pseudostem traps deposited at the basis of each banana plant. We discriminated between teneral adult weevils and mature weevils based on exoskeleton color [2]. The data was recorded at the plant scale and associated with spatial coordinates of each banana plant.

The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled "Cover cropping reduces the abundance of the banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus but does not reduce its damage to the banana plants" (Carval et al., in press) [1].

Appendix A. Supplementary material

Supplementary material

Supplementary material