The situation regarding the invasive Red Palm weevil will never be resolved in Portugal (in my humble opinion) due in part to the apathy and laziness of the few. No action was taken when it first arrived in our area two years ago by some property owners as infested trees on their land were left to die untreated and the weevils then moved on to other host palms. Too little has been done too late and eventually the landscape of the Algarve will change as many of these majestic palm trees fall victim to the weevil and die.
Some property owners cut down their infested trees and just dump them in the countryside, or on waste ground without any consideration for others or the environment. Their action is totally irresponsible and has no doubt contributed to the rapid spread of this invasive beetle.
Palm trees can be treated to help prevent infestation but for some this may not be an option due to ongoing costs etc
This post is inspired by the WordPress Weekly Photo challenge. This week’s theme is Resolved
Further information about the Red Palm Weevil can be found
here
Piglet in Portugal 
What a shame… they seem to be pretty determined bugs..
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A lesson we should all embrace
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Aye!
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Nasty critters . . . hope that they are brought under control and the palm trees enjoy a comeback.
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Think they’re heading your way Nancy!
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First I’ve heard of this, and just hope it isn’t invading us here in North Africa, but no doubt, it’s already arrived.
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Hi Lynne not sure about North Africa but I think from what I’ve read it’s now pretty widespread.
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I have nominated your blog for Meme check out my post Piglet
http://mr-tomato-king.blogspot.fr/2013/01/2013-meme-time.html
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Hi Steve, thanks for the Meme, but the rules say my blog must have under 200 followers. I have about 378? I can do it but wonder if you would like to nominate someone else instead?
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Your blog is so good Piglet, I an sure the rules can be bent just for you.
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Ok as you ask So nicely, it’s a nice thought – thank you!. However, I’ve been tagged in The Next Big Thing – Blog Hop…so I will have to give it a couple of weeks if you don’t mind?
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Well at least I know why my hair went gray. Bloody coffee!
Why not send an email to the entomology dept of a local university?
Maybe some of the students would like to çome on board’and lend a hand as part of a thesis or something? ‘
I know things are a bit slow in Poraland, as my BIL is always reminding me, but there may be some little university Bug – er who is looking for Kudos for his doctorate. You never know, right?
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Hi Ark, I think many of the universities in the US are already studying theis…Portugal I just don’t know as I can’t read Portuguese ;(
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Write an email in ingrish then press translate and it’ll become porkancheese.
Besides, you can bet most of those Varsity folk speak ingrish.
My stepson and his wife do,my BIL does and so do a fair few of my Portuguese relatives.
Anyhow, was just a thought.
Almost beddybyes time down here in SA.
Listening to Joe Jackson, Look Sharp….remember him?
Have a sooperdooper weekend.
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OK will do…you must be on the same time zone as me!
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Same time zone? Hmmm….I am in Johannesburg…but my wife thinks I’m sometimes in the previous century….and sometimes even ‘Off-Planet” 😉
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Sad that such beautiful trees are dying and the council does not inform people or help with funds to treat this pest.
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It is sad Sami, but what can one do…
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Hi Piglet!
The problem is that a decent sized tree like the ones in your picture cost about €1,000 to remove and dispose of, either privately or by the Camara (council). The fronds (?) have to be taken to a special council dump and this costs several hundred euros – so the locals (and probably some ex pats) either let them die or do the job themselves and dump them anywhere.
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Think you’ve hit on the root of the problem! Money 😦
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Hi Piglet! All those dead, once beautiful, palmtrees can make me cry. The big problem is that people only start noticing something is wrong with the tree when it is too late to do anything about it.
The best thing is to try and prevent! The current way to do this is treat the palmtree every month with Confidor. Also you should prune the tree ONLY in December or January. As soon as temperatures rise to 25 degrees C. the weevils can fly and they smell by the cuttings where more trees are.
Another problem is that most people do not know anything about all of this and are just caught by surprise when their tree dies.
Also a lot of trees “in the campo” are dying. The (mostly old) Portuguese living there (or quintas that are left) also do not have the knowledge, nor the finances to do anything about it.
It is very sad, but I do not see a solution either……
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Hi Marianne, you are right “The best thing is to try and prevent!” I think money is a big problem everywhere in Portugal and disposal and/or treatment of these trees as chip the duck says below, is not cheap
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That is such a shame, I hate to hear of trees dying, especially when it could have been prevented.
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I know, but it seems like prevention was impossible. Palms in Spain and France have also been affected, There is no border control and these bugs can fly along way apparently. Byt the time it arrived here on the west coast people in the know should have been aware of how to deal with the problem.
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I agree with you, if more folks would take better cautions when disposing of the infested trees, it’s possible that the weevil could’ve been controlled better. It’s such a shame.
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Hi EC it is so frustrating but at the same time reading chips comment below I think the problem is also financial as well as lack of knowledge
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Hi,
I have never heard of this weevil before, such devastation it causes to these beautiful palms.
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Hi mags, not sure where your based but they seem to be pretty widespread
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I’m in Australia, we have a lot of palms here in Queensland, but I have never heard of this before or seen palms with anything like this weevil, not in my area of Oz anyway.
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It would be interesting to see if you googled red Plam Weevil in Australia what results showed up
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Doesn’t seem to be in Australia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhynchophorus_ferrugineus
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What a darn tragedy! Hard to believe the municipal councils, or what there is instead in the country, do not have an eradication programme! Far too ‘manana’ for this greenie! Impossible to believe people concerned do not care!!!!!!! Am beginning to understand our Border Security programmes on all fronts of travel: bugs are one of the first things the officers look for!!
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Hi Eha, some camaras (local councils) care but it’s like everything else it depends on whose in charge and how much money they have to spend. Good for your border control! trouble is in Europe the borders are open. From memory though the original beetle came from Egypt. I do depair when I see the devastation it has caused, but it is true to say…
God grant me theserenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courange to change the things I can and the wisdowm to know the difference!
In the meantime I can have a bloody good rant 🙂
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Thats one big beetle…I bet if you could convince a couple of well known chefs to turn it into a delicacy…problem solved!
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🙂 Brillian idea!
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Another problem caused by the selfishness of mankind. Sigh.
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Hi Lisa, yes but I think as Chiptheduck points out below it is also financial. I sometimes think it’s hard to live simply in such a materialistic world
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I think the trees make Portugal and Spain
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I agree Harry. It will be such ashame if we lose a lot of them
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Piglet, on the website you linked to at the bottom it says:
“Biological control is the use of natural enemies, like predators, parasites, and pathogens to kill a pest. Red Palm Weevil is attacked by a variety of different natural enemies including parasites and small predators that attack weevil eggs, while bacteria, fungi, and nematodes can kill weevil larvae. Many of these biological control agents do not provide adequate control of Red Palm Weevil in the field.”
I WISH scientists would spend more time finding out how to make these natural predators of the red palm weevil more efficient in wiping it out… a subject so much more deserving of funding instead of some of these stupid studies like “does drinking coffee make you go gray faster” etc.
Sometimes the natural world needs a little help to keep the checks and balances,, we should be doing more to assist before beautiful nature like these trees are lost.
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Hi Kiwi, it is very difficult to control and friends and neighbours do treat their healthy trees to prevent infestation. You are right about stupid studies, more practical studies would be more useful.
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Sad seeing those trees waste away when it might have been prevented.
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Hi Apple, it makes me so cross. 2yrs ago there were no trees in our are but now they are everywhere. I know the red palm weevil is diffficult to control but it’s the apathy that gets to me.
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