Rhynchophorus Palmarum
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The South American palm weevil, ''Rhynchophorus palmarum'', is a species of snout beetle. The adults are relatively large black beetles of approximately one and a half inch in length, and the larvae may grow to two inches in length.


Biology and behavior

These insects are attracted to the release of volatile compounds produced by injured palm trees. 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 The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...
, date and oil palms, attacking thirty-five different species in twelve different families.Griffith, R. 1987
"Red ring disease of coconut palm"
''Plant Disease'' 71: 193–196.
Sanchez, P and H. Cerda. 1993.
El complejo ''Rhynchophorus palmarum'' (L) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) - ''Bursaphelenchus cocophilus'' (Cobb) (Tylenchida: Aphelenchoididae), en Palmeras.
. ''Boletín di Entomología Venezolana'' 8, 1–18
It has also been documented as an occasional pest of
sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...
. This insect serves as
vector Vector most often refers to: * Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction * Disease vector, an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematics a ...
for the '' Bursaphelenchus cocophilus'' nematodep. 322, " Migratory endoparasitic nematodes live concomitantly and interact with other microorganisms, of which several are pathogens to the same host. ... A particular interaction is observed with a number of aphelenchid species, such as ... ''B. cocophilus'', which need an insect vector for dissemination, the vector itself being a parasite of the common host." — the cause of red ring disease in coconuts, oilpalm, and dates.p. 315, "''Bursaphelenchus cocophilus'' (red ring nematode) is vectored by ''Rhynchophorus palmarum'' weevils and causes red ring disease in several palm species in the Caribbean and Latin America."p. 322, "Hosts of ''B. cocophilus'' are confined to the family Palmae, where the nematode is known to infect more than 17 species. Most palm species appear to be susceptible to inoculation by the nematode, but resulting disease severity and symptoms (red ring) are variable. The most economically important species attacked by ''B. cocophilus'' are coconut palm, the African oil palm, and the date palm." ''R. palmarum'' carries the disease in the form of
dauer larva Dauer ( German "", English "the endurance", "persistence"; "unlimited time" ) describes an alternative developmental stage of nematode worms, particularly rhabditids including ''Caenorhabditis elegans'', whereby the larva goes into a type of stas ...
e, a survival form.p. 315, " have specialized survival stages, termed dauers, which are usually ectophoretic and use the insect for transport." 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. Females are capable of laying as many as 693 eggs. Eggs will hatch in three to 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.


Host plants

* ''Cocos nucifera''
coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...
Hodel, D. R., M. A. Marika & L. M. Ohara. 2016
The South American palm weevil, a new threat to palms in California and the southwest.
Palm Arbor 3: 1-27.
* ''Phoenix dactylifera''
Date Palm ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern A ...
* ''
Elaeis guineensis ''Elaeis guineensis'' is a species of Arecaceae, palm commonly just called oil palm but also sometimes African oil palm or macaw-fat. The first Western world, Western person to describe it and bring back seeds was the French naturalist Michel Ad ...
'' African Oil Palm * ''
Euterpe edulis ''Euterpe edulis'', commonly known as juçara, jussara (an archaic alternative spelling), açaí-do-sul or palmiteiro, is a palm species in the genus ''Euterpe''. It is now predominantly used for hearts of palm. It is closely related to the açaà ...
'' Assai Palm * ''
Metroxylon sagu ''Metroxylon sagu'', the true sago palm, is a species of palm in the genus '' Metroxylon'', native to tropical southeastern Asia. The tree is a major source of sago starch. Description True sago palm is a suckering (multiple-stemmed) palm, e ...
'' Sago Palm * ''
Phoenix canariensis ''Phoenix canariensis'', the Canary Island date palm, is a species of flowering plant in the palm family Arecaceae, native to the Canary Islands off the coast of Northwestern Africa. It is a relative of ''Phoenix dactylifera'', the true date pal ...
'' Canary Island Date Palm * ''
Mauritia flexuosa ''Mauritia flexuosa'', known as the moriche palm, ''ité'' palm, ''ita'', ''buriti'', ''muriti'', ''miriti'' (Brazil), ''canangucho'' (Colombia), ''morete or acho'' (Ecuador), ''palma real'' (Bolivia), or ''aguaje'' (Peru), is a Arecaceae, palm t ...
'' Moriche Palm * ''
Bactris gasipaes ''Bactris gasipaes'' is a species of Arecaceae, palm native to the tropical forests of Central America, Central and South America. It is well spread in these regions, where it is often cultivated by smallholders in agroforestry systems or more ...
'' Peach Palm * '' Oenocarpus bataua''


Secondary hosts

* sugarcane * banana * Cacao * custard apple * breadfruit * papaya * citrus * mango * avocado * guava


Distribution

The weevil's native range extends across much of South America from Argentina to Paraguay and north through South and Central America to central Mexico and the Caribbean (Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and perhaps Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico). Recent finds in Arizona and Texas do not seem to reflect established populations, but more western populations are established (as of 2010) in
Tijuana, Mexico Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...
and
San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...
, California (San Ysidro, Bonita, and Spring Valley) and causing serious damage.


Cuisine

The larvae have been consumed for centuries as food by native South American populations as a source of protein, minerals, and vitamins A and E. These beetles and their larvae are known by many common names in South America: cucarrón, cigarrón, casanga, suri (Peru), chontacuro (Ecuador), gualpa (Colombia), mojojoi, mojomoi, mojotoi, mukint, mujin. and are used in
traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) refers to the knowledge, skills, and practices rooted in the cultural beliefs of various societies, especially Indigenous groups, used for maintaining health and treatin ...
for the treatment of cough, asthma and other respiratory ailments.


Notes


References


Citations


Bibliography

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External links

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USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...
br> information site for the weevil
*
University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...
br>fact sheet for the nematode
{{Taxonbar, from=Q980192 Dryophthorinae Agricultural pest insects Insect vectors of plant pathogens Beetles of Central America Beetles described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Pests of oil palm