Predicting the Potential Worldwide Distribution of the Red Palm Weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) using Ecological Niche Modeling

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1653/024.095.0317.The red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), ranks among the most important pests of various palm species. The pest originates from South and Southeast Asia, but has expanded its range dramatically since the 1980s. We used ecological niche modeling (ENM) approaches to explore its likely geographic potential. Two techniques, the Genetic Algorithm for Rule-set Prediction (GARP) and a maximum entropy approach (MaxEnt), were used. However, MaxEnt provided more significant results, with all 5 random replicate subsamples having P < 0.002 while GARP models failed to achieve statistical significance in 3 of 5 cases, in which predictions achieved probabilities of 0.07 < P < 0.10. The MaxEnt models predicted successfully the known distribution, including the single North American occurrence point of Laguna Beach, California, and various areas where the pest has been reported in North Africa, southern Europe, Middle East and South and Southeastern Asia. In addition, areas where the pest has not been yet reported were found to be suitable for invasion by RPW in sub-Saharan Africa, southern, central and northern America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. Highly suitable areas in the United States of America were limited mostly to coastal California and southern Florida, while all Caribbean islands were found highly suitable for establishment and spread of the pest

An update of the Worldwide Integrated Assessment (WIA) on systemic insecticides. Part 2: impacts on organisms and ecosystems

New information on the lethal and sublethal effects of neonicotinoids and fipronil on organisms is presented in this review, complementing the previous WIA in 2015. The high toxicity of these systemic insecticides to invertebrates has been confirmed and expanded to include more species and compounds. Most of the recent research has focused on bees and the sublethal and ecological impacts these insecticides have on pollinators. Toxic effects on other invertebrate taxa also covered predatory and parasitoid natural enemies and aquatic arthropods. Little, while not much new information has been gathered on soil organisms. The impact on marine coastal ecosystems is still largely uncharted. The chronic lethality of neonicotinoids to insects and crustaceans, and the strengthened evidence that these chemicals also impair the immune system and reproduction, highlights the dangers of this particular insecticidal classneonicotinoids and fipronil. , withContinued large scale – mostly prophylactic – use of these persistent organochlorine pesticides has the potential to greatly decreasecompletely eliminate populations of arthropods in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. Sublethal effects on fish, reptiles, frogs, birds and mammals are also reported, showing a better understanding of the mechanisms of toxicity of these insecticides in vertebrates, and their deleterious impacts on growth, reproduction and neurobehaviour of most of the species tested. This review concludes with a summary of impacts on the ecosystem services and functioning, particularly on pollination, soil biota and aquatic invertebrate communities, thus reinforcing the previous WIA conclusions (van der Sluijs et al. 2015)

Comunicación corta. Susceptibilidad de Phoenix theophrasti frente a Rhynchophorus ferrugineus y su control mediante el uso de Steinernema carpocapsae en una formulación con quitosano

The invasive red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Oliv. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is the most destructive pest of palms in the world. It has been reported on 19 palm species belonging to 15 different genera. The host status of theCretan Date Palm, Phoenix theophrasti, remains unclear. Therefore, the present study was carried out to ascertain the host status of this protected palm species. Additionally, the efficacy of entomopathogenic nematodes in a chitosan formulation to control this pest in P. theophrasti was assessed. Our results showed that healthy 4-yr-old P. theophrasti palms were not infested by adult females after 9 days exposure in a population density of 3 adults per plant. However, infestation was successful when neonate larvae were artificially introduced in palms. Therefore, natural populations of P. theophrasti could be at risk. Gummy secretion was observed in both naturally and forced infested palms indicating the existence of antibiosis in this species. Curative applications with the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae in a chitosan formulation in early infested P. theophrasti palms managed to reduce insect’s activity and could help the palms to recover.El picudo rojo de las palmeras, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Oliv. (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) es la plaga de palmerasm&aacute;s destructiva del mundo. Se ha citado en 19 especies de palmeras pertenecientes a 15 g&eacute;neros diferentes. El estatus de la palmera datilera de Creta, Phoenix theophrasti como hu&eacute;sped del picudo rojo no est&aacute; claro. Este estudio se llev&oacute; a cabo para determinar la respuesta de la palmera datilera de Creta frente al ataque de este curculi&oacute;nido. Adem&aacute;s se evalu&oacute; la eficacia de una formulaci&oacute;n del nematodo entomopat&oacute;geno Steinernema carpocapsae con quitosano para su control. Fue imposible infestar palmeras de 4 a&ntilde;os de edad con hembras adultas tras 9 d&iacute;as de exposici&oacute;n con 3 hembras por planta. Sin embargo, la infestaci&oacute;n fue exitosa cuando las larvas neonatas se introdujeron artificialmente en las palmeras. Por lo tanto, las poblaciones naturales de P. theophrasti podr&iacute;an estar en riesgo. Se observ&oacute; una secreci&oacute;n de goma, tanto en las palmeras infestadas de forma natural, como en las forzadas, que indica la existencia de antibiosis. Las aplicaciones curativas con los nematodos entomopat&oacute;genos en P. theophrasti redujeron la actividad de los insectos y podr&iacute;an ayudar a esta especie de palmera en su recuperaci&oacute;n

Short communication. Susceptibility of Phoenix theophrasti (Palmae: Coryphoideae) to Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and its control using Steinernema carpocapsae in a chitosan formulation

The invasive red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Oliv. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is the most destructive pest of palms in the world. It has been reported on 19 palm species belonging to 15 different genera. The host status of theCretan Date Palm, Phoenix theophrasti, remains unclear. Therefore, the present study was carried out to ascertain the host status of this protected palm species. Additionally, the efficacy of entomopathogenic nematodes in a chitosan formulation to control this pest in P. theophrasti was assessed. Our results showed that healthy 4-yr-old P. theophrasti palms were not infested by adult females after 9 days exposure in a population density of 3 adults per plant. However, infestation was successful when neonate larvae were artificially introduced in palms. Therefore, natural populations of P. theophrasti could be at risk. Gummy secretion was observed in both naturally and forced infested palms indicating the existence of antibiosis in this species. Curative applications with the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae in a chitosan formulation in early infested P. theophrasti palms managed to reduce insect’s activity and could help the palms to recover.El picudo rojo de las palmeras, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Oliv. (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) es la plaga de palmerasmás destructiva del mundo. Se ha citado en 19 especies de palmeras pertenecientes a 15 géneros diferentes. El estatus de la palmera datilera de Creta, Phoenix theophrasti como huésped del picudo rojo no está claro. Este estudio se llevó a cabo para determinar la respuesta de la palmera datilera de Creta frente al ataque de este curculiónido. Además se evaluó la eficacia de una formulación del nematodo entomopatógeno Steinernema carpocapsae con quitosano para su control. Fue imposible infestar palmeras de 4 años de edad con hembras adultas tras 9 días de exposición con 3 hembras por planta. Sin embargo, la infestación fue exitosa cuando las larvas neonatas se introdujeron artificialmente en las palmeras. Por lo tanto, las poblaciones naturales de P. theophrasti podrían estar en riesgo. Se observó una secreción de goma, tanto en las palmeras infestadas de forma natural, como en las forzadas, que indica la existencia de antibiosis. Las aplicaciones curativas con los nematodos entomopatógenos en P. theophrasti redujeron la actividad de los insectos y podrían ayudar a esta especie de palmera en su recuperación

Susceptibility of "Phoenix theophrasti" (Palmae: Coryphoideae) to "Rhynchophorus ferrugineus" (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and its control using "Steinernema carpocapsae" in a chitosan formulation: short comunication

The invasive red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Oliv. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is the most destructive pest of palms in the world. It has been reported on 19 palm species belonging to 15 different genera. The host status of the Cretan Date Palm, Phoenix theophrasti, remains unclear. Therefore, the present study was carried out to ascertain the host status of this protected palm species. Additionally, the efficacy of entomopathogenic nematodes in a chitosan formulation to control this pest in P. theophrasti was assessed. Our results showed that healthy 4-yr-old P. theophrasti palms were not infested by adult females after 9 days exposure in a population density of 3 adults per plant. However, infestation was successful when neonate larvae were artificially introduced in palms. Therefore, natural populations of P. theophrasti could be at risk. Gummy secretion was observed in both naturally and forced infested palms indicating the existence of antibiosis in this species. Curative applications with the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae in a chitosan formulation in early infested P. theophrasti palms managed to reduce insect�s activity and could help the palms to recover.El picudo rojo de las palmeras, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Oliv. (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) es la plaga de palmeras más destructiva del mundo. Se ha citado en 19 especies de palmeras pertenecientes a 15 géneros diferentes. El estatus de la palmera datilera de Creta, Phoenix theophrasti como huésped del picudo rojo no está claro. Este estudio se llevó a cabo para determinar la respuesta de la palmera datilera de Creta frente al ataque de este curculiónido. Además se evaluó la eficacia de una formulación del nematodo entomopatógeno Steinernema carpocapsae con quitosano para su control. Fue imposible infestar palmeras de 4 años de edad con hembras adultas tras 9 días de exposición con 3 hembras por planta. Sin embargo, la infestación fue exitosa cuando las larvas neonatas se introdujeron artificialmente en las palmeras. Por lo tanto, las poblaciones naturales de P. theophrasti podrían estar en riesgo. Se observó una secreción de goma, tanto en las palmeras infestadas de forma natural, como en las forzadas, que indica la existencia de antibiosis. Las aplicaciones curativas con los nematodos entomopatógenos e