Rhynchophorus ferrugineus is a quarantine pest that mainly damages plants in tropical regions, which are essential economic resources. Cry3Aa has been used to control coleopteran pests and is known to be toxic to R. ferrugineus. The binding of the Cry toxin to specific receptors on the target insect plays a crucial role in the toxicological mechanism of Cry toxins. However, in the case of R. ferrugineus, the nature and identity of the receptor proteins involved remain unknown. In the present study, pull-down assays and mass spectrometry were used to identify two proteins of aminopeptidase N proteins (RfAPN2a and RfAPN2b) in the larval midguts of R. ferrugineus. Cry3Aa was able to bind to RfAPN2a (Kd = 108.5 nM) and RfAPN2b (Kd = 68.2 nM), as well as midgut brush border membrane vesicles (Kd = 482.5 nM). In silico analysis of both RfAPN proteins included the signal peptide and anchored sites for glycosyl phosphatidyl inositol. In addition, RfAPN2a and RfAPN2b were expressed in the human embryonic kidney 293T cell line, and cytotoxicity assays showed that the transgenic cells were not susceptible to activated Cry3Aa. Our results show that RfAPN2a and RfAPN2b are Cry3Aa-binding proteins involved in the Cry3Aa toxicity of R. ferrugineus. This study deepens our understanding of the action mechanism of Cry3Aa in R. ferrugineus larvae.

To counter the insect infestation, plants respond with wide-ranging and highly dynamic biochemical reactions. Of these, the anti-oxidative activity is poorly understood. The red palm weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Oliver), one of the most widespread pests in Pakistan, prefers to infest date palm Phoenix dactylifera. Our present study investigated the feeding preference of RPW to 11 different date palm cultivars and the results suggested that the Hillawi cultivar was most preferred. Greater infestation rate, fecundity and hatching rate were also recorded from Hillawi and Mozawati than other cultivars. No significant decreases were observed in chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophylls and carotenoids of RPW-infested Hillawi cultivar over un-infested control. In contrast, the contents of enzymatic antioxidants including phenols, proline, hydrogen peroxide, anthocyanin, malondialdehyde, ascorbic acid and glycine betaine showed a drastic increase after RPW infestation, and there was enhanced superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and catalase activities. Furthermore, we recorded the increase of total protein and sugar contents in RPW-infested date palms. These findings offer valuable insight into the antioxidative molecular mechanism of date palms under RPW attack and may contribute to the breeding of insect-resistant crops.

The red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier), is one of the most destructive pests of date palm in United Arab Emirates. We conducted field trials in Abu Dhabi from May 2010 to April 2011, to evaluate the effect of weekly stirring of water and dates in the RPW pheromone trap on adults captured in brown and white traps, using a randomized complete block design with four treatments and five replications. Each trap contained: (1) a dispenser of the RPW male aggregation pheromone (Ferrolure™) containing 700 mg of the active ingredient (4-methyl-5-nonanol (90%) + 4-methyl-5-nonanone (10%)) at 95% purity; (2) an ethyl acetate (EA) dispenser (Weevil Magnet™) containing 40 ml of the active ingredient of EA at 98% purity; (3) 350 g of fodder date fruits; and (4) 4 L of water. Mean adults captured in white traps was 22.5 ± 0.50 and 16.8 ± 0.41 adults/trap/month with and without stirring, respectively, while in brown traps the mean was 39.9 ± 1.31 and 28.3 ± 0.51, respectively. The overall mean of adults captured was 31.2 ± 6.21 and 22.6 ± 4.81 adults/trap/month with and without stirring, respectively. The highest number of weevils caught was in the brown traps with stirring, while the lowest was in the white traps without stirring. The results of these trials suggest the use of brown traps containing aggregation pheromone, 350 g of date fruits, EA and water. It is necessary to stir the water with dates in the traps to increase their efficacy.

Introduction. Plants develop mechanisms that allow them to compartmentalize injuries that they suffer during their life. In trees, pruning and injection treatments must be used in accordance with precise rules to reduce risks resulting from the injuries created. Sealing in palms. Palms, contrary to widespread belief, are quite capable of “healing” injuries (sealing); because of an anatomy quite different from trees, the sealing process in palms is much simpler. Compartmentalization of injection wounds. The controversy on the use of injection in trees is due essentially to initial mistakes that have then been rectified. Injection in palms against the red palm weevil. For palms, for decades, this technique has been employed without problems and with great efficiency against various pests, including Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, the red palm weevil (RPW). Its use has been reserved for exceptional situations either to face abnormal pest proliferation, uncontrollable by other techniques, or to implement eradication programs. Integrated eradication program. In such a program, the main aim of injection treatments is preventive. With long-persistence insecticides, the number of treatments could be greatly reduced. The resulting savings in time and money would enable the organization of the treatments of all the palms located in an infested area, and consequently the rapid eradication of the pest. New perspectives. We established that insecticides applied by injection were capable of protecting palms with only two or even one treatment per year. These results suggest a radical improvement in programs to eradicate RPW, while considerably reducing the risks to health and the environment compared with spray treatments.

Trapping of adult red palm weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier using food-baited pheromone traps is a major component of the integrated pest management strategy currently adopted against the RPW in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Field trials were carried out in RPW-infested date plantations of Al-Rahba, Abu Dhabi, UAE from January to December 2010 to ascertain the combined influence of ethyl acetate (EA) and trap colours on weevil captures in RPW pheromone traps. Weevil captures were recorded throughout the experimental period with a sex ratio (male:female) of 1:2.2 and capture rates of 25.13 and 15.14 weevils/trap/month in traps with and without EA, respectively. Furthermore, treatments with black-coloured traps recorded significantly higher weevil captures.

Red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier is a key pest of date palm in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Since 1994, the Ministry of Agriculture has implemented a pheromone-based integrated pest management (IPM) strategy to control R. ferrugineus in the Kingdom. Geographic information system (GIS) technology can serve as a valuable tool to assess insect activity and in addition the impact of the control strategy. We used GIS-based techniques to ascertain the spatial and temporal spread of R. ferrugineus in 234 ha of date plantation in Al-Sohemia-1 in the Al-Ahsa region of Saudi Arabia. One hundred and fifty six pheromone (Ferrolure™) traps in Al-Sohemia-1 were logged using the Trimble global positioning system to determine the east longitude and north latitude of each pheromone trap and transformed to the GIS as a shape file. The spatial and temporal variations for R. ferrugineus activity based on captures in pheromone traps were studied for each of the four seasons of the year and also year-wise during 2009 and 2010. Results revealed that during both 2009 and 2010, maximum weevil activity was recorded during late spring and early summer, with captures declining during autumn and winter. Spatial variations in the activity of R. ferrugineus indicated that in general 2009 registered lower weevil activity compared with 2010. Furthermore, most of the area exhibited medium to very high weevil activity in spring and summer during both 2009 and 2010, while most of the area recorded very low to low weevil activity during the autumn and winter seasons of both the years. The ongoing R. ferrugineus-IPM programme in Al-Ahsa needs to be strengthened in areas showing high to very high weevil activity.

The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is an economically important pest of palms worldwide. To better understand the phenology of R. ferrugineus populations in the Mediterranean basin, the objective of the present work has been to estimate the effect of temperatures within the range 10–25°C on the reproductive parameters of R. ferrugineus and to determine its lower temperature thresholds for oviposition and egg hatching. Our results confirm that oviposition in R. ferrugineus is strongly affected by temperature. Lower thresholds for oviposition and egg hatching (15.45° and 13.95°C, respectively) are below the mean monthly temperatures registered in winter in most of the northern shore of the Mediterranean basin. Under these circumstances, new palm infestations would be difficult during most of the winter. These results should be taken into account when planning some palm management practices, such as pruning or pesticide treatments, in areas under a Mediterranean climate.

The invasive red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera, Curculionidae), is one of the most destructive pests of palms in the world. Since its detection in the Mediterranean Basin, the ornamental Phoenix canariensis Hort. ex Chabaud has become its main host. This study was aimed at determining the life cycle of R. ferrugineus in live P. canariensis palms. Egg lethal temperature threshold and thermal constant were determined in the laboratory and resulted in 13.1°C and 40.4 degree days (DD), respectively. A semi field assay was carried out in a mesh enclosure where living P. canariensis palms were artificially infested with neonate larvae at one-month intervals from June 2008 to May 2009 under natural conditions. Infested palms were dissected at different time intervals. Maximum mortality rates for R. ferrugineus were observed for palms infested either in December or January (100%), whereas those infested from April through September showed maximum survival rates. Mean monthly temperatures below 10.3°C were lethal for neonate larvae, as 4.5°C were for older immature stages. All recovered larvae could be classed according to one of 13 instars. A thermal constant of 666.5 DD was estimated for complete larval development. Pupal develoment required an additional 282.5 DD. Based on these results and on the temperatures from 46 climatic stations selected in the Iberian Peninsula, less than one generation per year can be expected in areas with mean annual temperature below 15°C and more than two where mean annual temperature is above 19°C.

A decision-making sampling plan was developed to initiate new and validate ongoing area-wide red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) integrated pest management (IPM) programmes in date palm plantations of Saudi Arabia based on the concept of sequential sampling. Spatial distribution studies revealed that R. ferrugineus population was aggregated and followed the negative binomial series with a mean aggregation index (common K) value of 3.56. In the sampling plan developed, young date palms are inspected in a sequence in units of 100 palms (1 ha) until an accurate decision on the infestation level can be made. The plan rates infestations as low and high if d0 ≤ 0.478n − 7.519 and d1 ≥ 0.478n+7.519, respectively, where d0 and d1 are the cumulative maximum and minimum infested palms per ha (100 young palms) for not recommending and recommending area-wide management of R. ferrugineus, respectively, and n is the area sampled in ha. In this sampling plan, if 100 palms are inspected and eight or more infestations are detected, then area-wide R. ferrugineus IPM is required. On a 100 ha scale (10,000 palms) the plan becomes stricter and permits only 55 infestations.

The red palm weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier), a concealed tissue borer, is a lethal pest of palms and is reported to attack 17 palm species worldwide. Although the weevil was first reported on coconut Cocos nucifera from South Asia, during the last two decades it has gained a foothold on date palm Phoenix dactylifera in several Middle Eastern countries from where it has moved to Africa and Europe, mainly due to the movement of infested planting material. In the Mediterranean region, RPW also severely damages Phoenix canariensis. Currently, the pest is reported in c. 15% of the coconut-growing countries and in nearly 50% of the date palm-growing countries. Infested palms, if not detected early and treated, often die. However, palms in the early stages of attack respond to chemical treatment with insecticide. RPW has been managed in several countries employing an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy including the use of food-baited pheromone traps. Early detection of infestation in the field is important for the success of any RPW-IPM programme. Ideally, movement of planting material from infested plantations within the country and also from one country to another needs to be stopped. Wherever this is not possible, it is essential to implement strict pre- and post-entry quarantine regimes, wherein only pest-free and certified planting material can be transported. The existing pheromone-based IPM programme can be strengthened by intensifying the search for effective natural enemies, coupled with the introduction of resistance in palms to RPW. This article reviews the work done during the last 100 years on various aspects of RPW viz. life history, damage and symptoms of attack, seasonal activity, spatial distribution, host range, IPM and its main components, including trapping adult weevils and chemical control, besides biological control, host plant resistance and male sterile technique.

The distribution of the types of sensillae in the adult red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Oliv.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), was studied using scanning electron microscopy. Five types of sensillae can be identified on the antenna, with no apparent differences between sexes. These are: multiporous peg sensillae, sensillae trichoïdea (I and II); sensillae basiconica (type I, II and III) and sensillae styloconica. The distal segment of the maxillary palp bears 22 sensillae basiconica in the female, 13 in the male.The upper and lower incisor cusps of the mandibles of the male are relatively longer and more rounded, with an angle of 45° or more where the inner margins of the cusps meet. In the female, the upper and lower cusps are slightly shorter, with an angle of about 45°. In the buccal cavity of females, groups of finger-like sensillae basiconica of various length and shape project toward the centre of the oral opening. In the male, multiporous peg sensillae are found. Sensillae trichoidea are present on the ventral and dorsal sides of the first, second and third tarsal segments distally. These are much denser on the male than the female. On the terminal (9th) abdominal segment of the ovipositor, sensillae are distributed on the dorsal plate, medial plate, ventral plate and anal leaflets (paired). Sensillae of four types occur on the anal leaflets.