Posts Tagged: palm weevil

South American Palm Weevil Conference

The South American palm weevil has successfully invaded and established in San Diego County where it has killed hundreds of Canary Islands date palms. The weevil is spreading quickly and will likely pose a significant threat to date and ornamental palm producers in the Coachella Valley.

Free Event

Date: March 12, 2018

Location: Coachella Water District, 51501 Tyler St, Coachella, CA 92236

CE and ISA Credits Available

Agenda:

 8:00am: Don Hodel, UCCE LA County, will give an overview of palm biology, diseases, and nutrient deficiencies that can be confused with palm weevil damage

 8:45am: Tom Perring, UC Riverside, will cover date palm pests

9:30am: Mark Hoddle, UC Riverside, will provide updates on the palm weevil invasion in San Diego County

10:15am: BREAK – Sponsored by the California Date Commission

 10:45am: Mike Palat, West Coast Arborists, will review issues that need consideration when removing palm trees killed by palm weevils

 11:00am: Ricardo Aguilar, Aguilar Plant Care, will discuss potential chemical control options for palm weevils in infested areas

11:15am: Agenor Mafra-Neto, ISCATech, will discuss new technologies that are commercially

available for controlling palm weevils   12:00pm: Meeting Adjourns

 

Register for the Meeting Here: http://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=22821

2017 Date Field Day: A Success!

The University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE), UC Riverside, United States Department of Agriculture/Agriculture Research Service (USDA/ARS), and the California Date Commission hosted a Date Field Day on February 15, 2017 at the UC Riverside Coachella Valley Agricultural Research Station. It was a full house that day, with approximately 55 Growers, farm managers, and other date stakeholders. The field day included a field research plot tour, lunch, and Continuing Education hours where available for attendees.

 

Speakers included Tom Perring, UCR Professor of Entomology, who spoke about his Pink Hibiscus Mealybug biocontrol research. Pink Hibiscus mealybug is a new threat to the date industry. This insect has a host range of 200+ trees species. The first findings where on backyard tree species and has been spreading to agriculture commodities and has just recently has become an issue in dates. Perring is currently in the early stages of rearing a parasitoid that may be able to help reduce the mealybugs population.

Robert Krueger, Citrus and date researcher Riverside USDA/ARS spoke about nitrogen assessment of date palms. He discussed diagnostic sampling implications, which suggest that there are differences in concentrations of various elements that occur in different portions of the leaf, and at different aged leaves can show different results, and also different seasons may also effect results. Based on the research it is suggested that the best sampling strategy is near khalal stage from middle pinnae of intermediate aged leaves during the summer.

 

Tony Fortier, from Phoenix Agrotech spoke about tissue culture methods in date palms. Date palm tissue culture is a rapid clonal propagation (micropropagation) method, where a small piece (explant) of the desired mother plant is initiated under sterile conditions into an in vitro environment, such as a test tube or culture vessel. Under tissue culture conditions, cells of the explant undergo rapid multiplication, ultimately producing many young date palm plantlets, which are genetically identical to the desired mother palm. This method is currently being used in the industry.

Peggy Mauk, UCCE-UCR Subtropical Horticulture Specialist spoke about establishment of date palms: Tissue Culture vs Off-shoots.

Locally, field plantings are threatened by pests and diseases. Globally, field plantings are threatened by climatic changes, human expansion, and political unrest. Therefore, maintaining and securing genetic diversity for improved cultivation and pest & disease resistance is crucial. MaryLou Polek, from the USDA/ARS spoke about the Role of the USDA Germplasm Repository and the importance of the collection.

 

 Sonia Rios, UCCE Riverside/San Diego Counties Subtropical Horticulture Farm Advisor spoke about pest issues in date palm, more specifically about weevils . Date palms flourish in high summer temperatures and low humidity which creates a perfect breeding ground and living conditions for pest, especially for the Red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) (RPW) and South American palm weevil (Rhynchophorus palmarum) (SAPW). The RPW is considered most destructive arthropod pest of palms world-wide. SAPW causes similar damage on smaller scale. Both larvae's can cause economic damage as they feed on palm near apical growing point causing damage, which weakness the tree, and eventually causes death. The SAPW has been eradicated, however the RPW has been slowly showing up in date species in California, threatening the date industry. (Weevil Photos: Mark Hoddle)

The California date industry is worth ~$68 million (NASS, 2015). In 2015, 43,600 tons of dates where harvested. Coachella Valley produces about 95% of the dates consumed in the US. Date palms flourish in high summer temperatures and low humidity climates, which permits their production to certain growing regions. There are many threats to this economically important commodity and the University of California Cooperative Extension and other agencies are committed to assure the date industry thrives locally and globally.  The planning committee looks forward to next year's event.

 

Red Palm Weevil

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.

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