Invasive Insect Species

**3**

**Chapter 1**

**Abstract**

quarantine insect

**1. Introduction**

Red Palm Weevil *Rhynchophorus* 

Curculionidae): Global Invasion,

Current Management Options,

Challenges and Future Prospects

*Hamadttu Abdel Farag El-Shafie and Jose Romeno Faleiro*

The red palm weevil (RPW) *Rhynchophorus ferrugineus* (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) also known as the Asian palm weevil is a key pest of palms

management options, challenges and future prospects for its effective control.

**Keywords:** invasive species, red palm weevil, IPM, introduction pathways,

The red palm weevil (RPW) *Rhynchophorus ferrugineus* (Coleoptera:

Curculionidae) also known as the Asian palm weevil is an invasive key pest of palms (Arecaceae) in diverse agro-ecosystems the world over. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN has designated RPW as a category-1 pest in the Middle East and North Africa (NENA region), where it is a threat to the livelihood security of date palm farmers in rural communities [1]. During March 2017, FAO organized a 'Scientific and High-Level Meeting on the Management of RPW' and through 'Rome Declaration' called for the urgent need to combat RPW by collaborative efforts and commitments at the country, regional and global levels to stop the spread of this devastating pest. The pest has its home in South and South East Asia, where it is a key pest of coconut, *Cocos nucifera.* The cryptic behaviour and the intrinsic biological traits of the weevil have made it difficult to detect and therefore difficult to manage. Now, there are so many gaps and challenges in the components of RPW management

(Arecaceae) in diverse agro-ecosystems the world over. During March 2017, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN through its 'Rome Declaration' called for the urgent need to combat RPW by collaborative efforts and commitments at the country, regional and global levels to stop the spread of this devastating pest. There exist gaps and challenges in almost all the components of the current RPW-IPM strategy, particularly with regard to early detection, developing and implementing phytosanitary measures, lack of effective biological control agents in the field and poor farmer participation in the control programmes, which have made RPW control and eradication extremely difficult. This chapter gives an overview of the global invasion, current

*ferrugineus* (Coleoptera:
