The Red Palm Weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier, 1790) is the major pest for both amenity and economic palms all over the world. RPW inflicts severe economic losses and several techniques have been proposed to lower its population below the economic threshold. Chemical control on healthy (symptomless) palms are the only suitable approach to control RPW infesting Phoenix canariensis because of its preventive and protective actions (2P).
Different techniques permit to distribute insecticides. Six different active ingredients were tested: Imidacloprid, Thiametoxam, Dimethoate and Abamectin by tree injection, and Clothianidin and Azadirachtin through tree injection and soil application. The research was performed over a total of 111 Phoenix palms, namely eighty-nine P. canariensis plus twenty-two P. dactylifera in different countries (Italy, Malta and Syria). Treatments were carried out in homogeneous plots testing different insecticides and distribution techniques in order to evaluate distinctive protective and preventive effects for each active ingredient. We compared uptake dynamics, side effects and effectiveness along with the fallouts of phytosanitary treatments in urban centres and commercial palm plantations, insecticide phytotoxicity, cost effectiveness of the different distribution methods
