Recently the Red Palm Weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus was spotted in Orange County. This red striped beetle is widely considered to be the most damaging insect pest of palms worldwide and its arrival is causing considerable alarm in Southern California.
Female RPW use their long beak to chew a hole into palm tissue and can lay up to 531 eggs into the hole. Eggs may also be laid in existing cracks and crevices within the palm. Typically the eggs hatch in less than one week. Once the weevils become adults they reproduce for two to three months before dying. The population can become so large that one of the symptoms of RPW infestation is hearing "gnawing" sounds from inside the tree caused by larvae feeding.
To learn more about this pest including who to contact if you see a RPW, additional symptoms to look for, and what is being done to protect California’s landscapes, ornamental palm industry, and date growing regions please see UC Riverside’s Center for Invasive Species Research.