Battle commences against palm weevil

The red palm weevil (charançon rouge in French) first appeared from Asia in the seventies and has since established itself all over the Mediterranean. It is notoriously difficult to detect, particularly in the tall palms, until the tree is well on the way to an early demise. The victim loses all its palms and the trunk rapidly starts to deteriorate.

In the Var capital the main sites where palm trees are being treated include Pheonix des Canaries, Place de la Liberté, around the opera house, avenue Colbert, places Gambetta, Vezzani, Gabriel-Péri, Pasteur and the bus station. Some 175 of the larger specimens will be treated this month. As a precaution to prevent any risk of contamination by the products being used, residents are being advised to keep their windows closed and take in any washing between the hours of 10pm and 6am.

In fact Toulon is less badly affected by the larvae of this weevil than other towns, notably Hyères, Six-Fours, Sanary and La Croix-Valmar, which is why the campaign is so necessary. The whole weevil life-cycle takes around four months. The females lay around 200 to 300 eggs at the base of young palm trees or in damaged areas on older trees. The larvae feed on the vascular tissues of the host for a period of between one to three months before hatching and moving on to start all over again.

Simply visually checking a grove or using non-systemic pesticides is not enough to control the spread of an infestation once it has started. The best form of attack is prevention through stricter controls on movement of plants likely to harbour the insect. Dead palms or palms beyond recovery have to be burned and careful cultivation is also crucial to avoid any risk of injury to new trees where the weevil can set up home. CL