Florida Palmetto Weevil

     The other day Monsieur and I were surprised to find a big red beetle in the middle of our hallway.  Since we often leave the back door to the garden open, this did not greatly surprise me.  A quick search on google confirmed that this was the dreaded Florida Red Weevil that we had recently heard so much about.  Monsieur put him out and grabbed this pic of the beast before he flew off. 

Rhynchophorus cruentatus Fabricius,  Photo by Mary M Payne

He (or she) turned out to be the largest weevil in North America and is called the palmetto weevil, Rhynchophorus cruentatus Fabricius. The palmetto weevil is native to Florida and until recently was the only species of palm weevil in the continental United States. Once, the palmetto weevil was considered a minor pest, attacking only severely wounded and dying trees. Now however, it is  known to be a pest of stressed nursery and transplanted palms as well as apparently healthy Canary Island date (Phoenix canariensis Hortorum ex Chabaud), Bismarck (Bismarckia nobilis Hildebrandt & H. Wendl.) and Latan (Latania spp.) palms.

 I understand that the adults of this species display various color variations. They can also be quite variable in overall size.  

This female beetle is now bad news also for the Mediterranean area ( PACA) from Marseille to Nice whose owners of palms noticed too late that their trees were under attack from imported insects.   The pest arrived to our area in 2006 and it was found that this parasite lays its eggs in the heart of the tree and the larvae feast on the tree until it is dead.  Here the weevil is called "le charancon rouge" and millions of households have been warned by letter from the city.  In theVar alone, 8,200 trees have been treated or removed.  It is being called a "massacre" by those involved. 

The best way to treat an ailing tree is by injecting an insecticide made by the giant multinational Swiss company, Syngenta.  The problem is that because Syngeta holds a monopoly on the product so they have insisted that their own personnel treat the affected trees affectively pushing the price form 30 euros per treatment up to 250 euros a tree.  This price is preventing many households from taking action and there is now a petition on line to protest the high price of the treatment:    collectif méditerranéen pour la sauvegarde des palmiers,  
Over 7000 signatures have been collected. 

 According to our own tree cutter and palm tree expert, Daniel Donadey,  artisan "elagueur" ( tel. 04 93 72 81 13) there have been 2000 trees who have died in Nice and surrounds.   He has already taken down at least 3 in my neighborhood and other tree cutters have removed another three.   I also  see from my terrace two palms that have been treated and are starting to regrow.  Huzzah.


Here is a photo of a tree on my street that has been killed by the red weevil larvae and not yet been removed. 

Palm tree killed by "Florida Red Weevil" in Nice , France   Photo by Mary M Payne

It is a sad state of affairs for the affected trees but believe it or not there are still quite a few other variations of palms here that appear quite healthy and so the signature tree of The Cote d'azur seems intact for the moment. 

 Still I'm no longer a fan of the huge red insect.  But as Monsieur says, "he's just trying to make a living".