South American palm weevil about to invade Orange County California

[pogobob]

Spotted 2 Canary Island palms today with palm weevils infesting. Located at San Onofre State Park. 

[Silas_Sancona]

3 hours ago, pogobob said:

Spotted 2 Canary Island palms today with palm weevils infesting. Located at San Onofre State Park. 

Probably already there..

Current map:   3 new reports since September beyond the Fallbrook area,   inc. from San Onofre < Recorded on 12 -16 -25 ( Purple Circle )




Orange =  Coastal San Pedro, 12 -20 -25 Observation..

Yellow = Valley Village area, near Sherman Oaks, 9 -25 -25 Observation..    Listed as SAPW,  but the observer really should have moved it into better lighting to get more shots.. 

Still, if anywhere nearby,   ..i'd be watching Canaries, closely..

[quaman58]

My fools hope was that they’d somehow get stopped by Camp Pendleton. 😩 Thanks for the update Bob.

[Darold Petty]

I'm glad that I won't be around when they get to the Bay Area.   

[Stevetoad]

Get your traps built. I catch 10-20 a week. 

[Matt in OC]

@Stevetoadis that half an apple in a bucket of water? That catches them?

[Josue Diaz]

Really hoping the winter temps in the central valley and northern CA stop these from encroaching further north. I'm reading that other related palm weevils are killed and harmed below 50F, so I'm really hoping this weevil is at the northern limit of its possible range and doesn't continue to expand much north of LA or inland from the coast. It seems the most likely progression of these might be northward along the coast - San Fernando Valley, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo... then? it might be too cold for them north of that. Certainly too cold for them in Monterrey.  This is where you begin to see coastal redwood habitat which is cold and foggy/gloomy.  They certainly wouldn't cross Tejon Pass in fall/winter/spring - and if they do cross in summer, our winters would kill them I would hope. Would be a shame if they start attacking the Joshua Trees in the high desert.  

[SCVpalmenthusiast]

1 hour ago, Josue Diaz said:

Really hoping the winter temps in the central valley and northern CA stop these from encroaching further north. I'm reading that other related palm weevils are killed and harmed below 50F, so I'm really hoping this weevil is at the northern limit of its possible range and doesn't continue to expand much north of LA or inland from the coast. It seems the most likely progression of these might be northward along the coast - San Fernando Valley, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo... then? it might be too cold for them north of that. Certainly too cold for them in Monterrey.  This is where you begin to see coastal redwood habitat which is cold and foggy/gloomy.  They certainly wouldn't cross Tejon Pass in fall/winter/spring - and if they do cross in summer, our winters would kill them I would hope. Would be a shame if they start attacking the Joshua Trees in the high desert.  

They’ll freeze in the high desert. The temps are in the high 20s at night and 49 to 50 during the day where my inlaws live in Rosamond. It freezes in the high desert they won’t survive. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

6 hours ago, Darold Petty said:

I'm glad that I won't be around when they get to the Bay Area.   

Darold, Hopefully our cooler winters will keep them away. That’s my hope anyway. 

[Stevetoad]

4 hours ago, Matt in OC said:

@Stevetoadis that half an apple in a bucket of water? That catches them?

It is and sort of. I get a bucket with a lid. Cover it with burlap and drill 3 2” holes in it. You can order SA palm weevil pheromone online. You fill the bucket up with a few inches of water and toss in some (in my case) apple, guava and dates. Dangle the pheromone pack from the lid above the water and presto. You now have a palm weevil honey pot.  I keep my traps away from my yard by hanging them in my palm free neighbors yards. I fear if I hang one in my yard I will just be calling them in for dinner. 
 

[Stevetoad]

1 hour ago, SCVpalmenthusiast said:

They’ll freeze in the high desert. The temps are in the high 20s at night and 49 to 50 during the day where my inlaws live in Rosamond. It freezes in the high desert they won’t survive. 

my place drops below 32 a few times a year.  I never saw the red palm weevils but these South American ones are all over the place. 

[Stevetoad]

maybe as a test ill pop one in my fridge and one in my freezer over night and see if they live. 

 

[Matt in OC]

Brilliant @Stevetoad! Thanks for sharing.

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, Josue Diaz said:

Really hoping the winter temps in the central valley and northern CA stop these from encroaching further north. I'm reading that other related palm weevils are killed and harmed below 50F, so I'm really hoping this weevil is at the northern limit of its possible range and doesn't continue to expand much north of LA or inland from the coast. It seems the most likely progression of these might be northward along the coast - San Fernando Valley, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo... then? it might be too cold for them north of that. Certainly too cold for them in Monterrey.  This is where you begin to see coastal redwood habitat which is cold and foggy/gloomy.  They certainly wouldn't cross Tejon Pass in fall/winter/spring - and if they do cross in summer, our winters would kill them I would hope. Would be a shame if they start attacking the Joshua Trees in the high desert.  

Stretches of cooler winter temps / moderate or cool-ish summers ( compared to S.Cal. ) around the Bay Area / Cen. Valley < San Joaquin esp > might kill any adults flying around at that time / slow an overall northward advance,  but i don't think it will be enough to kill any larvae tucked deep within the " warm " trunk of a massive Canary,  esp. if those " cold " spells are brief / don't drop much below 30 -32F for several weeks at a time. 


Susceptible palms up there are fair game in summer when adults would be active though, unfortunately.  


If colder winters / overall cool climate conditions in places like Spain, Italy,  Greece  ..or areas where they've turned up north of there.. haven't totally halted their progression,  I doubt they'd stop Red Palm Weevil,  if it ever established itself anywhere in the warmer parts of the states.  

Palmetto Weevil, our native ( Southeast / FL. )  Rhyncho. sp.,  can tolerate some cold too.. 


As for Joshua Trees,  ..while the idea of any introduced pest insect turning to a new host is always possible,  think SAPW / Rhyncho. Genus itself is hard wired to be palm - exclusive.   ..Again though,  lets hope that is true..

Yucca,  Cacti, and Agave have their own " specific " Snout Weevil associations / Genus.  None use palms as larval hosts,  as far as i'm aware / seen discussed in research papers read. 

 

[Tomas]

The RPW Is spreading also in Northern Italy and in France, maybe someone can provide the lowest temperature in those places

The damage to the large heart of the palm will cause fermenting and provide constant warm temperature for the survival of the larvae even in a colder climate

[Phoenikakias]

11 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Stretches of cooler winter temps / moderate or cool-ish summers ( compared to S.Cal. ) around the Bay Area / Cen. Valley < San Joaquin esp > might kill any adults flying around at that time / slow an overall northward advance,  but i don't think it will be enough to kill any larvae tucked deep within the " warm " trunk of a massive Canary,  esp. if those " cold " spells are brief / don't drop much below 30 -32F for several weeks at a time. 


Susceptible palms up there are fair game in summer when adults would be active though, unfortunately.  


If colder winters / overall cool climate conditions in places like Spain, Italy,  Greece  ..or areas where they've turned up north of there.. haven't totally halted their progression,  I doubt they'd stop Red Palm Weevil,  if it ever established itself anywhere in the warmer parts of the states.  

Palmetto Weevil, our native ( Southeast / FL. )  Rhyncho. sp.,  can tolerate some cold too.. 


As for Joshua Trees,  ..while the idea of any introduced pest insect turning to a new host is always possible,  think SAPW / Rhyncho. Genus itself is hard wired to be palm - exclusive.   ..Again though,  lets hope that is true..

Yucca,  Cacti, and Agave have their own " specific " Snout Weevil associations / Genus.  None use palms as larval hosts,  as far as i'm aware / seen discussed in research papers read. 

 

I wish to add only l, that in the warmest temperate Mediterranean parts of Europe rpw remains rather idle during the hotter months and goes rabid towards the end of October! That is for new infestation.

[GabeV]

Hi all, new to this site as I was scouring reddit for SAPW chats. I’m an arborist advisor for a plant health care company. Just saw the San Onofre one yesterday! Bummer I was keeping my eyes on those for awhile now. Also - I was on iNat and saw someone found SAPW in LA County (Sherman Oaks) gulp! If anyone in OC wants to tinker with some preventative treatments lmk.