Monitoring of infestation percentages of the invasive red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), and management tactics: a six-year study

Abstract

Red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae), is a devastating invasive pest, that invaded Saudi Arabia's date palms in 1987. Evaluation of the infestations and the efficacy of both preventative and control treatments have been studied from 2015- 2020 in Qassim. The results indicated that the number of infested date palms varied according to the years and locations. The infested date palm trees percentage was relatively high in 2016 (2.24%) and 2017 (3.19%), then gradually decreased to reach its lowest in 2020 (0.73%) due to the management protocol applied by the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture. Furthermore, the infested palm trees' percentage varied among the eight study locations, reaching the highest percentage in location G (SA7) with a general average of 4.31%. While in the other locations, the general infested percentage average was very low when compared to location G (SA7) with 1.21 and 0.47% in locations A (SA1) and H (SA8), respectively. The effectiveness of control methods increased sharply from 52.141% in 2015 to 90.0% in 2020 with a general average of 72.73%. The quarantine and management protocols of R. ferruginous applied in Qassim decreased the number of palm infestations. Contrary, the intensive use of insecticide in the last two decades promoted genetic mutations within the Rhynchophorus, which led to the emergence of a new species R. bilineatus. This leads to increase pesticide pollution, and control costs and the insect becomes more resistant to pesticides.

Detection of adaptive genetic diversity and chemical composition in date palm cultivars and their implications in controlling red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Oliver

“…In Qassim Saudi Arabia, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus infestation % varied from one year to another which was relatively higher in 2016 (2.24%) and 2017 (3.19%), then gradually decreased to reach its lowest in 2020 (0.73%) and varied among the eight study locations, reaching the highest percentage in location G (SA7) with a general average of 4.31%, maybe due to the management protocol applied by the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture (Abdel-Baky et al, 2022, 2023. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of the control methods increased sharply concerning the treated palms percentage rising from 52.141% in 2015 to 90.0% in 2020 with a general average of 72.73% (Abdel-Baky et al, 202, 2023).…”

“…Qassim is considered one of the biggest agricultural areas in Saudi Arabia with about 7 million date palm trees of different cultivars. Out of those 7 million, more than 5 million date palm trees are considered fruitful trees (71.5%) (Abdel-Baky et al, 2022, 2023. Because of the diversity of palm cultivars in Qassim and the multiplicity of farms, and the fact that the farms are far away from each other, therefore, each farm is considered an independent agricultural ecosystem.…”

“…Data on RPW infestation and damage were taken randomly in each location according to the status of RPW infestation and the conditions of each farm. Evidence and data were gathered with the help of teamwork from the Palm Weevil Control Center in Qassim (Abdel-Baky et al, 2022, 2023.…”

“…The survey procedures followed by the Palm Weevil Control Center in Qassim (Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture) were applied such as the visual examination methods as well as, the aggregation pheromone traps (Abdel-Baky et al, 2022, 2023. RPW adult preference was evaluated in 11 date palm cultivars under free-choice conditions in 79 date orchard farms in Qassim, Saudi Arabia.…”

“…seen as one of the most destructive pest-threatening date palm production and associated industries (Dembilio and Jaques, 2015;Al-Dosary et al, 2016;Knutelski et al, 2021;Abdel-Baky et al, 2021;Abdel-Baky et al, 2022, 2023.…”