Applications:

Monitoring and massive trapping of the palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus. The control of this pest helps to reduce the incidence of red ring disease, of which this insect is a vector.

Monitoring

Use 1 trap every 3 or 4 Ha.

Place it away from sensitive specimens, placing the traps in shady places and in direct sunlight.

Check the traps once a week, replenishing the liquid if necessary.

Massive trapping

Massive traps are carried out to reduce the pressure of the pest and control population levels.

The amount of traps to be used depends on the density of the palm trees and the level of infestation. As a general rule, the traps should be arranged in frames at a distance of 50 meters from each other (4-10 traps per hectare).

When the palm trees are aligned, place a trap every 50 m.

Check the traps once a week.

Activity:

Attacks palm trees, especially the Canarian palm (Phoenix canariensis) and date palm (Phoenix dactylifera).

It is necessary to pay attention to the symptoms of this infection, to detect the pest as soon as possible.

Adults are attracted to volatile substances emanating from host plants, mainly from cut rhizomes.

Its life cycle includes the stages of larva, pupa and adult, and has a duration, according to climatic conditions, of between 3 and 4 months (three annual generations).

Surveillance by traps with pheromone aggregation is essential to detect the presence of the weevil, and to determine the stage of the pest and assessment of the level of risk.

The intensive trapping by traps baited with the pheromone of aggregation is an essential tool in the detection of this pest, and allows the monitoring of the evolution of the populations and their control.

The red weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) is a species of curculionoideo coleoptera, of the family Curculionidae, 1 original of the tropical Asia. It is a large weevil, between two and five centimeters. Its reddish ferruginous color makes it unmistakable.

The larva perforates galleries more than one meter long in the trunks. Its host plants are mainly from the family of palm trees, such as Cocos nucifera (coconut palm), Elaeis guineensis (oil palm) and the genus Phoenix, including Phoenix canariensis (Canarian palm) and Phoenix dactylifera (date palm), although have noted attacks on other species including the palm heart Chamaerops humilis.

The plants affected by the pest suffer yellowing and withering, and the death of the affected foot may occur. The control of this pest is complicated and different preventive or curative techniques are used, as a last resort the affected feet are removed and those that are suspected may be removed, to avoid the propagation of the insect.