An overview on the natural enemies of Rhynchophorus palm weevils, with focus on R. ferrugineus

Abstract

h i g h l i g h t s Rhynchophorus species are polyphagous and some are pests of several palm species. We reviewed their natural enemies in both their native and introduced regions. More than 50 natural enemies have been reported to attack Rhynchophorus species. Fungi are the most promising ones for biological control.

Red Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier, 1790): Threat of Palms

“…Especially as more palms are infected for a long time over their fermentation, so the internal high temperature and thereby speeding up the development cycle. Interactions with other organisms: Although few studies have been conducted on natural enemies and symbionts of Rhynchophorus (Murphy and Briscoe, 1999;Faleiro, 2006;Mazza et al, 2014) recently presented a comprehensive overview on this topic. Cytoplasmic Polyhedrosis Virus (CVP) infection in the late larval stage results in deformed adults, checking substantially the insect population (Gopinadhan et al, 1990).…”

“…naturally infecting RPW adults in Saudi Arabia (Saleh et al, 2011) Phoretic and parasitic mites have also been described from the RPW and some insect's species constitute important predators of the RPW, especially during the egg and larval stage ). An example of this is the earwigs, Chelisoches morio (Fabricius, 1775) in the canopy of coconut plantations in India (Abraham and Kurian, 1974;Mazza et al, 2014) and Euborellia annulipes (Lucas, 1847) in RPW-infested palms in Sicily (Massa and Lo Verde, 2008;Mazza et al, 2014). In Sri Lanka the predatory bug Platymeris laevicollis Distant was reported to prey on RPW (Reginald, 1973;Mazza et al, 2014).…”

“…An example of this is the earwigs, Chelisoches morio (Fabricius, 1775) in the canopy of coconut plantations in India (Abraham and Kurian, 1974;Mazza et al, 2014) and Euborellia annulipes (Lucas, 1847) in RPW-infested palms in Sicily (Massa and Lo Verde, 2008;Mazza et al, 2014). In Sri Lanka the predatory bug Platymeris laevicollis Distant was reported to prey on RPW (Reginald, 1973;Mazza et al, 2014). Two parasitoid species are reported to prey on RPW; the sarcophagid fly Sarcophaga fuscicauda Bottcher, 1912attacks adults in South India (Iyer, 1940;Mazza et al, 2014) and the scollid wasp Scolia erratica Smith 1857 in Malaysia (Burkill, 1917;Mazza et al, 2014).…”

“…In Sri Lanka the predatory bug Platymeris laevicollis Distant was reported to prey on RPW (Reginald, 1973;Mazza et al, 2014). Two parasitoid species are reported to prey on RPW; the sarcophagid fly Sarcophaga fuscicauda Bottcher, 1912attacks adults in South India (Iyer, 1940;Mazza et al, 2014) and the scollid wasp Scolia erratica Smith 1857 in Malaysia (Burkill, 1917;Mazza et al, 2014). The RPW seem to benefit from the feeding activity of scarabeid beetles of the genus Oryctes, which facilitates the infestation of palms crown by this weevil (Murphy and Briscoe, 1999).…”

Occurrence of Panagrellus (Rhabditida: Panagrolaimidae) Nematodes in a Morphologically Aberrant Adult Specimen of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae)

“…Those genera already identified include Acrostichus Rahm, 1928; Bursaphelenchus Fuchs, 1937; Caenorhabditis (Osche, 1952) Dougherty, 1953 Diplogasteritus Paramonov, 1952; Mononchoides Rahm, 1928, and Teratorhabditis (Osche, 1952) Dougherty, 1953 (reviewed in Troccoli et al, 2015. Further studies are necessary to identify weevil nematodes, clarify their biology and type of association with RPW, and consider their possible effects as biocontrol agents (Mazza et al, 2014). With this aim, we report the first finding of nematodes belonging to Panagrolaimidae (Nematoda: Rhabditida) associated with the RPW and briefly discuss the possible modes of association.…”