Cultivated Canary Island Date Palms (Phoenix canariensis), attacked by Rhynchophorus ferrugineus. Els Poblets, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain. 22 Dec 2010. Photo: Katja Schultz (CC BY 2.0)
Palm Weevils!
Palm Weevils (Rhynchophorus spp. – Curculionidae), even if they are really good looking (Video 1: Redweevil Walking), are a devastating plague for palms around the world. They attack many palms and can kill an adult specimen quickly as the weevil larvae eat the apical meristem. This inflicts irreversible damage ultimately leading to the plant’s death.
Usually treatment of this pest is expensive, involving systematic injections or the spraying of other products. The trunks of dead palms must be incinerated to prevent the spread of new adults onto nearby palms.
(Read: Canary Islands Becomes First Territory in the World to Eliminate the Red Palm Weevil, article from 2016).
There are several species of weevils attacking palms, R. palmarum and R. cruentatus among them. In southern Europe the Red Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) has become a problem that has killed many palms.