Spanish Oddities
Red Palm Weevil reaches the Baleares
By h.b. - Mar 12, 2008 - 7:51 AM
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The Picudo Rojo (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus), the Red Palm Weevil, which has been devastating palm trees across Spain, has now reached in the Balearic islands.
The first place where the beetle was found in Europe was Almuñecar on the Costa Tropical where it arrived in 1994 on some infected trees from Egypt. Unfortunately the control systems at that early stage were not effective and now the beetle has extended across Andalucia, and into Murcia, Valencia, Cataluña and now the Balearic Islands.
There have also been cases on the Canaries, and as yet there is no efficient method of controlling the pest. A new plan of infecting the beetles with a parasite is under study.
(Environment story)
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