What is killing/eating my palms (CIDP and others)

[greekpalm]

i have no idea what it might be.. i'm not sure if its a red palm weevil (the closest report of Red palm weevil are around 20 Km away)

the symptoms started beginning of September (see pictures below)

affected palms are phoenix canariensis and Washingtonia robusta (and maybe Syagrus romanzoffiana)

I live in south Attica (south east of Athens(Greece))

lowest ever recorded temperature -4 C

maximum ever recored temperature 45 C

mean minimum temperature January 7 C

mean maximum temperature January 13 C

mean minimum temperature July 22 C

mean maximum temperature July 33 C

average rainfall 330mm

annual sunshine 2800 hours

[greekpalm]

i have no idea what it might be.. i'm not sure if its a red palm weevil (the closest report of Red palm weevil are around 20 Km away)

the symptoms started beginning of September (see pictures below)

affected palms are phoenix canariensis and Washingtonia robusta (and maybe Syagrus romanzoffiana)

I live in south Attica (south east of Athens(Greece))

lowest ever recorded temperature -4 C

maximum ever recored temperature 45 C

mean minimum temperature January 7 C

mean maximum temperature January 13 C

mean minimum temperature July 22 C

mean maximum temperature July 33 C

average rainfall 330mm

annual sunshine 2800 hours

[greekpalm]

Palmtalk is the biggest gathering place for palm lovers on the internet, and no one cared to even reply ?

this is as sad as the condition of my palms....

[John in Andalucia]

Palmtalk is the biggest gathering place for palm lovers on the internet, and no one cared to even reply ?

this is as sad as the condition of my palms....

I had this kind of damage on a Washingtonia last year, and I think someone said it was another type of beetle or large moth larvae. Perhaps someone can back me up on this.

Welcome to the forum, by the way.

[edbrown_III]

I had different types of beetles and worms attack palms -- I lost the same species to Palm Weevils a 15 years back. Big black ugly beetles --- I tried all sorts of poisons but couldnt save the tree as the infestation was too great.

There are some diseases that spread to this in Florida at least-- wiped out a bunch of date palms about 15 years ago.

I lost a Acrocomia to squirrels or rats I think --- the spear is good eating for many species. beetles etc.

a systemic can be used to the crown to dampen it. Peeing in the crown works too

Best regards

Ed

[Charles Wychgel]

The photos are not very clear but try searching for the moth Paysandia archon, which was reported in Cyprus in 2009

http://www.springerlink.com/content/l44676u02285786n/fulltext.pdf

[edbrown_III]

If you think it is a moth or worm than the solution is Bacilus thurcidus ( or however it is spelled)

I dont know if moths have chewing mouth parts but their pre-metamorphic worms do.

Best regards

Ed

[BS Man about Palms]

Palmtalk is the biggest gathering place for palm lovers on the internet, and no one cared to even reply ?

this is as sad as the condition of my palms....

I saw, but had no answers.

But you're right, I should have welcomed you nonetheless.

Welcome!

and good luck...

[Kim]

I looked at the photos and thought of many possibilities, but nothing conclusive. Grasshoppers? Stick insects (phasmids)? Snails or slugs? (no trails visible) Caterpillars or other feeding larvae? I definitely think some kind of munching critters. Have you gone outside at night with a flashlight to inspect the palms? Maybe you can catch them in action. Or set sticky traps. Most of the damage appears to be superficial and cosmetic, but you can't be sure of that until you know exactly what is eating your palms. Good luck!

[Rusty on Pine Is.]

By the looks of the damage it is occurring within the protection of the leaf bases forming the crown, or at least before the leaf completely unfurls, since the damage seems to go through the pleat.

One of the pics shows that the insect is not chewing outside going in..it appears to be translaminal, at least in the petiole...the holes appear as the outer surface decays.

If those observations are correct, then BT may not be effective, since it must be ingested

( assuming first that it is a lepidopterous larvae that is causing the damage).

A systemic insecticide, either injected into the tree or applied to the soil may help.... a spray into the crown would be less effective, given the lack of complete tissue coverage and the reduced translocative action of the insecticide.

A contact insecticide would be even less effective since it is less likely to contact the insect.

Rusty

[greekpalm]

i have no idea what it might be.. i'm not sure if its a red palm weevil (the closest report of Red palm weevil are around 20 Km away)

the symptoms started beginning of September (see pictures below)

affected palms are phoenix canariensis and Washingtonia robusta (and maybe Syagrus romanzoffiana)

I live in south Attica (south east of Athens(Greece))

lowest ever recorded temperature -4 C

maximum ever recored temperature 45 C

mean minimum temperature January 7 C

mean maximum temperature January 13 C

mean minimum temperature July 22 C

mean maximum temperature July 33 C

average rainfall 330mm

annual sunshine 2800 hours

i did some pruning today and here are my results (there wasn't any odor comming from the infested trees

here are some pictures

any idea ???

[Enzo]

In Italy, similar attacks are PAYSANDISIA ARCHON.

See this interesting post, but is in Italian language:

My link

Sorry for my writing

Best regards

Enzo

[AggiePalms]

Hi! Welcome to the family!

Interesting pictures. Unfortunately I don't have a good specific answer. Very probably a larval insect, which narrows it down to only 1.1 million species or so. I agree, likely a systemic insectice would be your best bet...although in my "greenness" I always have to say to avoid pesticides unless absolutely necessary.

[Charles Wychgel]

Definitely Paysandisia archon, sorry I spelled it wrong in my previous post

Imported into Europe from Argentina with shipments of Trithrinax campestris

Unlike the Red Palm Weevil this bug is very cold hardy and will kill plants in the colder regions of Europe

This picture of you shows the typical damage

Just like this one

A pic of the moth

And a link http://secure2.csl.gov.uk/plants/publications/plantHealth/documents/PPN49.pdf

[gyuseppe]

the Paysandisia archon is doing damage even in Italy!

Was not enough for the red palm in southern Europe,

now also the Paysandisia !

Paysandisia + red palm in italy

http://www.tropicamente.it/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3418&FORUM_ID=47&CAT_ID=16&Topic_Title=Una+strage+annunciata+!!&Forum_Title=Palme+e+Cicadee

[Kris]

Palmtalk is the biggest gathering place for palm lovers on the internet, and no one cared to even reply ?

this is as sad as the condition of my palms....

Hai,Welcome to our forum ! Though i love CIDP's but i do not know much to guide you with troubleshooting....

Lots of love,

kris.

[greekpalm]

thank you, all of you guys !!!

[greekpalm]

today i poked in a hole that i discovered after pruning my palms and that's what i found inside ...

it was dead as you can see ... after almost 2 months of soaking my palms with the following chemicals (i dont like chemicals but i really didnt want to see my palms die)

chemicals used: (dosages for 5 liters)

chloropyrofos 20ml

xellona 50ml

warrant 10ml

actellic 10ml

now that you've seen the "monster" do you think its the red palm weevil or Paysandisia archon ?

[greekpalm]

well thank you all of you who helped!

i'm glad that i could save my palms (I've seen a minimal growth even now in the winter.. (well not exactly winter we have 24C days ... )

i can't be sure if it was Paysandisia archon or red palm weevil .. but i think it was the first of the two

i'll keep a close watch on then until next summer to be sure !

[Sim01]

Hi,

I'm pretty sure your palms have been attacked by Paysandisia, this a real problem here in France. The only way is to use chemicals and hunt the moths. A lot of palms were killed by it in the south of France and also by the red weevil. This is a real problem for the palms from Cyprus, as Phoenix theophrastii is one of the only european palm and is severly threatened.

Simon

[BigFrond]

Wow, that's pretty bad! I thought I had it bad with grasshoppers.

[joe_OC]

Hi Manolis,

I am glad you were able to save your palm. Sorry I was not able to contribute. I think a lot of people here do not have much experience when it comes to pests. I don't think it is because they did not care. Whatever it is, that is one large larvae. The pics sure look like Paysandisia archon:

Paysandisia archon

[WestCoastGal]

Greekpalm, I remembered seeing this post by samirbouag (from France) about the Paysandisia archon's effect on palms and thought the pictures shown in the linked site looked very similar to what you have experienced.

I'm glad the treatment you did killed the pest and hope things keep looking up for the palm. Did you ever see a winged version in your yard BTW?

My husband and I are first time palm owners so are learning things as we go. The forum has been an eye opener. I never really thought about pests attacking my palms before reading about the RPW and the thought of my palms dying one day from an infestation is pretty horrible. I can understand your frustration in getting the pest identified quickly. Thankfully for us here I don't think this is one that is in our area, yet I feel for all of you guys in Europe, especially as it seems you have been getting hit from a couple of sides and from the photos pretty hard too. Thank you for your pictures. They are very helpful to a newbie.

Edited December 4, 2010 by WestCoastGal

[samirbouag]

[Phoenikakias]

i have no idea what it might be.. i'm not sure if its a red palm weevil (the closest report of Red palm weevil are around 20 Km away)

the symptoms started beginning of September (see pictures below)

affected palms are phoenix canariensis and Washingtonia robusta (and maybe Syagrus romanzoffiana)

I live in south Attica (south east of Athens(Greece))

lowest ever recorded temperature -4 C

maximum ever recored temperature 45 C

mean minimum temperature January 7 C

mean maximum temperature January 13 C

mean minimum temperature July 22 C

mean maximum temperature July 33 C

average rainfall 330mm

annual sunshine 2800 hours

i did some pruning today and here are my results (there wasn't any odor comming from the infested trees

here are some pictures

any idea ???

Definitely a paysandisia archon! See please the sticky topic in the EPS forum, where I have posted identical damages on Sabal spss, Livistona and Brahea. Most of those infested specimens are still too young to be a prefered target for the rpw.