Red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier) infestation and its chemical control in Sindh province of Pakistan

Abstract

The survey on various parameters showed that the degree of orchard infestation fluctuated by time  period/seasons, so attack of red palm weevil varied on different months of the year during the study  period. It was observed that this insect pest had significantly higher (16%) infestation in the months of  June, July and August, during experimental period. The least attack (8%) of the weevil was in the  months of January, September, October, November and December in both the years (2007 and 2008). Place of infestation of weevil on date palm stem revealed that the pest infestation was mostly  concentrated at the base of trunk (up to 50 cm height) and 75 to 82% of total weevil infestations were  located at the base of palm trunk. Spirotetramat insecticide was found most efficient treatment to  control red palm weevil infestation/damage, which recovered (43%) damaged date palm trees, followed by Fipronil (33%), Chlorpyrifos (26%) and Methidathion (19%) during the year 2007 and 2008. Key words: Red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, chemical control, date palm