N P P C
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levels, symptoms resembling drought stress,
like wilting or yellowing, may be observed
Management of Red Palm Weevil
1. Avoid injuries on stems of arecanut as
the wounds may serve as oviposition
sites for the weevil. Wounds must be
treated immediately with sand or resin.
2. The entire heavily affected tree should
be destroyed immediately; however
the slightly infested trees and others
should be treated by spraying of the
systemic insecticides
3. Mass trapping by using pheromone
traps has been used to reduce red palm
weevil densities.
National Plant Protection Centre
Department of Agriculture
Semtokha: Thimphu
Red Palm Weevil
(Rhyncophorus ferrugineus)
4. Trunk injection and prophylactic spray
of dimethoate 30% EC in the ratio Ento, leaflet 11
of 2 ml per litre of water have to be
applied adequately in both number and
positions in the tree.
Contact us:
National Plant Protection Centre
Department of Agriculture
Ministry of Agriculture and Forests
Semtokha, Thimphu
P O Box: 670
Tel: +975-02-351016/351665
Fax: +975-351656
Email: nppcsemtokha@gmail.com
Website: www.nppc.gov.bt
Re-produced by:
Entomology Unit
National Plant Protection Centre
Semtokha, Thimphu

Larva of Red Palm Weevil
The Pest Organism
Adult Red Palm Weevils are large beetles. The
weevils have a long, slender rostrum or “snout”
which the female uses to penetrate arecanut
tissue and create access wounds in which eggs
are deposited. The RPW adult collected from
Bhutan are predominately reddish-brown and
are found in Sarpang and Samtse .
Eggs are whitish-yellow, smooth, very shiny,
cylindrical with rounded ends and slightly
narrower at the anterior end.
Larvae are creamy white to ivory, cephalic
capsule brown russet-red to brilliant brown-
black. Body is slightly curved. Last instar is 36
to 47 mm in length by 15 to 19 mm in width.
Adult of Red Palm Weevil
Adult male length ranges from 19 to 42 mm
and width 8 to 16 mm. Body elongate-oval,
general colour ferruginous to black, legs lighter
colored than body; elytra dark red to black,
shiny or dull, slightly pubescent and black
spots on pronotum extremely variable.
Adult female length ranges from 26 to 40 mm,
width 10 to 16 mm and are similar to male in
body size, color, markings on pronotum, except
rostral setae absent; snout longer, slender and
more cylindrical, setae on front femur absent
and on front tibia much shorter.
Biology of Red Palm Weevil
Females bore into palm tissue with their
rostrum to lay eggs. This usually occurs near
a tree wound. Several eggs may be laid near
each other before the female cements the
hole closed. Females lay an average of 250
eggs; eggs hatch in approximately three days.
Infested plant with holes
Larvae pupate in an oval-shaped cocoon within
the tree or at the base of the palm frond, taking
an average of three weeks to mature to adult.
Adults are active mostly during the day and can
fly long distances in search of hosts or breeding
sites. After hatching, larvae begin feeding on
the surrounding palm tissue, tunnelling into
the interior of the palm . Larvae bore into the
tree crown, upper portion of the trunk, or base
of the petioles .
Damage Symptoms
Infested palms are hard to detect since the
larvae feed on the internal tissues of the palm.
Under careful observation, surveyors may be
able to detect infested plants with holes in the
crown or trunk, with or without oozing brown
liquid and chewed up fibers . At high infestation