Red Palm Weevil in Jimena

The red palm weevil (rhynchophorus ferrugineus, or picudo rojo in Spanish) has been discovered in palm trees at several points throughout the municipality. The weevil lays eggs inside the palm tree trunks so its larvae can feed off it, leaving holes that can be a metre long and thus killing the host tree. It is usually spread by human intervention in the transportation of infested trees. Jimena’s Department of the Environment will be fumigating as many trees as possible over the next few weeks, and uprooting and burning those they find to be unrecoverable. Once an area is infested, it is extremely difficult to eradicate the weevil.