Crete Palms At Risk Including Elounda

[Stefos]

Red Palm Weevil –
Rhynchophorus ferrugineus

This weevil is killing palm trees on the north coast of Crete and is spreading FAST. We must try to control the spread of this pest. If you find one, kill it and contact your local dimos and tell us at www.flowersofcrete.info. If it attacks your palm trees IT WILL KILL THEM. It will also attack banana palms. There are things you can do to stop it, but you need to act quickly!

Please Note This Weevil Has Been Found In Elounda

[virgo]

Hope this problem can be sorted, we don't want to lose the palm trees in Elounda, it must be quite a worry for the people it affects.

[elounda77]

This is most definitely a very serious threat to the local palms and not scaremongering. Thanks should go to local botanical expert and Elounda resident, R, for photographing and alerting everyone to the dead specimen that she found in the square.

[Stefos]

Originally Posted by elounda77

This is most definitely a very serious threat to the local palms and not scaremongering. Thanks should go to local botanical expert and Elounda resident, R, for photographing and alerting everyone to the dead specimen that she found in the square.

I agree this is very serious this is the reason I posted it on the biggest forum covering the elounda and other areas. One infected palm and this can include palms in some of the forum readers gardens could if not halted spread throughout Crete. Vai and the forest of Palms has been under attack by this weevil some time ago and now seems to be making its way around the coast.

Here is what the local readers of the forum can do (Crete)

INFORMATION FROM PROFESSOR V. SOROKER, Dept. of Entomology, Agricultural Research Organization




PHEROMONE TRAPS

• These are essential and MUST be put up as soon as possible! The traps are easy to make and the pheromone can be obtained from Chemtica in Costa Rica. www.chemtica.com
• Adults fly mainly in warm weather but are still flying now.

INFECTION

• Cherry pickers should be used to inspect the crown of all palms.
• One of the first signs of an infected tree is that one or more leaves look as if they have been cut off and just hang down against the trunk (pictures available)

TREATMENT

• The crown of any infected trees must be wrapped in netting until they can be treated. This is to stop any adults from flying to other trees.

• Newly-infected trees must have the top cut back to new wood where there is no sign of infection (grubs, holes).

• Their stumps must be treated with insecticide) and wrapped to prevent any adults landing on them.

• To protect palms inject systemic pesticides and spray crown and trunk with Chlorpyrifos

• Palms irrigated by drip irrigation can be treated with Confidor.

• Once cut off, infected material should be wrapped securely until it can be burned before burial.

• Dead trees must be wrapped, dug up and burned because they can still hold grubs and pupae.

IF WE ALL WORK TOGETHER TO IDENTIFY AND TREAT INFECTED PALMS, MANY OF THEM CAN BE SAVED AND WE CAN SLOW DOWN OR STOP THE SPREAD OF THIS WEEVIL.




PLEASE NOTE: The weevils will attack ANY palm but the Canary Palm is the preferred host. The Canary Palm will also hold more grubs and adults than other species and so poses a greater risk.


It is better not to plant any palms at the moment, but if you must, please avoid using the Canary Palm.


I agree this is not scaremongering this is a warning and important information which should be known by all in the Elounda area and the rest of Crete.

[Stefos]

How You Can Help

You can help by signing the petition which has just been set up and you can find it here:

http://www.petitiononline.com/flowers1/petition.html