The South American palm weevil, Rhynchophorus palmarum, is a species of snout beetle. The adults are relatively large red beetles of approximately an inch in length, and the larvae may grow to two or three inches in length[citation needed]. These insects are attracted to the release of volatile compounds produced by injured palm trees.[1] The larvae burrow through the hearts of palms, and their feeding can potentially kill an infested palm or serve as an avenue for secondary infections of bacterial disease. It is considered an important pest of cultivated coconut, date and oil palms, attacking thirty-five different species in twelve different families.[2][3][4] It has also been documented as an occasional pest of sugar cane. This insect serves as vector for the Bursaphelenchus cocophilus nematode, cause of Red Ring Nematode disease in coconuts.[5] By the time one observes symptoms, the palm is usually already dead. Weevils are infected while feeding as adults or larvae, but only female weevils carry a large internal infestation around their oviducts and are capable of transmitting the nematode during oviposition.[6] Females are capable of laying as many as 693 eggs.[4] Eggs will hatch in three - five days, and spend seven to eight weeks as larvae, feeding on the heart of the palm. They will emerge from the heart of the palm to pupate in a cocoon woven from palm fibers either in the boot of palm-leaf petioles, or in leaf debris at the base of the palm. Pupation can take from one to three weeks. Adults will live from five to eight weeks.[7] The weevil's native range extends across much of northern South and Central America[citation needed]. Recent finds in California and Texas[8] suggest that the weevil may be expanding its range[citation needed].
References
- ↑ Giblin-Davis RM, et al. 1996. Chemical and behavioral ecology of palm weevils (Curculionidae: Rhychophorinae). Florida Entomologist 79: 153-167.
- ↑ Esser, R. and J. Meredith. 1987. Red ring nematode. Nemotology Circular of Florida Department of Agriculture No. 141. Gainesville, FL.
- ↑ Griffith, R. 1987. Red ring disease of coconut palm. Plant Disease 71: 193-196.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sanchez, P and H. Cerda. 1993. El complejo de Rhynchophorus palmarum/Bursaphelenchus cocophilus en palmas. Boletín di Entomología Venezolana 8, 1–18
- ↑ Griffith, R. 1987. Red ring disease of coconut palm. Plant Disease. 71: 193 – 196.
- ↑ Chinchilla CM. 1991. The red ring little leaf syndrome in oil palm and coconut palm. ASD Oil Palm Papers No. 1, 1-17. http://www.asd-cr.com/ASD-Pub/Bol01/b01c1.htm (21 June 2009).
- ↑ OEPP/EPPO (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization/Organisation Europeenne et Mediterraneenne pour la Protection des Plantes). 2005. Data sheets on quarantine pests. Rhynchophorus palmarum. Bulletin (35): 468-471.
- ↑ NAPPO. 2012. Detection of the South American Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus palmarum) in Texas. http://www.pestalert.org/oprDetail.cfm?oprID=519
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