The red punch belongs to the family of Beetle Weevil. He has a head in the shape of elongated proboscis, to whose end is located the mouth that perforates the plant tissue. Of reddish brown with black streaks, reaching lengths of 19 and 45 mm and widths of 11.50 to 15.50 mm. The insect is able to fly, even if not well. It is stated that the red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) is high in Italy traveling in a coconut palm. Its spread was radical, characterized by attacks targeted mainly to the palm of the Canaries. Italy (and especially Sicily) fails to counter the little insect even if the means to do so exist. His attack damages the palm in apical buds, not making it more able to grow and produce new leaves. The beetle also worn tissue at the base of the leaves making them dry out gradually. We are all enlisted to fight mandatory: they are already thousands palms cut down on our territories, resulting in irreparable alteration of landscapes. The palm trees that die are often centuries old: if nothing is done they will die other, not the insect will die.
The remedy exists. Read up on the web is easy: you will find many solutions to the problem. In many promote the administration of a treatment, both preventive for healthy palm trees, which in therapeutic character for infestation just started! If you have destroyed the central bud of the palm, there is little to do. It proceeds with a Endotherapy (ie injections of products to the trunk of the plant), combined with spraying pesticide on the foliage, both carried out every 3 or 4 months, and for a period of 3/4 years. Time and patience are key. Months after she stops to find the foot of the palm “cocoons” of the larvae, after a year you see new leaves sprout from the center of the crown. It is estimated that in two years the palm back to have a decent head of hair and after 3 or 4 years shines again. Therapies are many and impossible to describe in detail. However, for anyone who is wondering how to save your palm trees, are some of the substances authorized for application: Abamectin, Azadirachtin, Cyfluthrin, Chlorpyrifos, Chlorpyrifos-methyl, clothianidin, imidacloprid.
It is recommended to administer the palms Abamectine and Azadirachtin endotherapy for every 6 months, or spreading substances in the soil so that they are absorbed through the roots. What we are asking is – if the remedy exists – because it is not implemented on a scale expanded both in public spaces and private sectors? This applies especially to my province, Syracuse, where palm trees are dying more than healthy ones. For erroneous information and warning people not aware of the positive results, perhaps because the scientific official sources can not yet certify the effectiveness of the final treatment. In our view, to discourage any initiative, it is the duration of treatment that also reaches four years. It should add that the implementation costs are far lower and authorities often lack the funds drawn up for their implementation. Look at the death of a palm coast anyway, maybe more! Its elimination and replacement cost approximately as 10/12 years of therapy: it would be better then cure them rather than letting them die slowly?
