Paysandisia (palm moth) spreading through northern France!

[UK_Palms]

It appears the dreaded palm moth has spread throughout the Normandy region of northern France in recent weeks/months. Multiple garden centres and private collections appear to have been affected in Caen and the surrounding towns & villages. The palm moth was already present in some inland regions of northern France as of about 2019/20, but it has now reached the far northern coastline where the D-Day landings occurred. That is a significant spread in a fairly short amount of time. All that separates it from the UK now is about 30 miles of English channel.

 

These are some of the actual Paysandisia larvae that have been found in palms in Caen with a backstory. They seem to love Trachycarpus, worryingly...

 

We should keep an eye out for symptoms in northern Europe, especially in southwest England around Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Isle of Wight etc. Maybe London too.

 

It also appears the Red Palm weevil has continued its move up the west coast of France and into the Normandy region. I am hearing unconfirmed reports of it present on some of the French channel islands, off the north coast of France, in the English channel. That is worrying if true. Both pests are getting closer to the UK either way.

[Foxpalms]

I hope that doesn't spread here. It would causes chaos for the palms here. I think the red palm weevil has been spotted in Essex before.

[gurugu]

Rinchophorus at my neighbor´s

It has become a plague. Quite a few old palmtrees (canariensis) affected.

[Tomas]

22 hours ago, UK_Palms said:

They seem to love Trachycarpus, worryingly...

They also love Chamaerops and many other palms, but are somehow less lethal to those with big trunks than the RPW

[Foxpalms]

55 minutes ago, Tomas said:

They also love Chamaerops and many other palms, but are somehow less lethal to those with big trunks than the RPW

That's not good Chamaerops are the most planted palm in London. I couldn't care less if they only attacked Trachycarpus but unfortunately they don't, hopefully we don't get any here in London.

[Kelern]

No, there is no occurrence of Paysandisia archon in northern France! The northernmost occurrence is around the city of La Rochelle and I don't think it will go further north except during very hot summers where it might reach southern Brittany around Nantes/Vannes. But a cool and wet summer would set it back to the south as the butterfly needs a long and hot season to complete its cycle from larvae to adult butterfly. In the south of France, it appears only half june when the temperatures reach 25°C/78°F on average. Plus it doesn't like at all the rain that stick it down to the ground!

In Normandy, they were found in garden centers on palm trees imported from Spain but they didn't spread yet!

Edited December 29, 2022 by Kelern