اولین گزارش فعالیت سوسک سرخرطومی حنایی خرما Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Oliv.) (Col.: Dryophthoridae) در استان بوشهر

Following the report of a suspected and unusual symptoms in date palm trees different from those caused by Oryctes spp. and Jebusaea hammerschmidti in a date palm orchard located at 28°25'39" N and 51°55'14" E and 360m altitude in Hanashour village in Dashti District of Bushehr province in May 2022, evaluation for detecting and diagnosis of the destructive agent was conducted. The infested orchard is positioned in the mountain range in far southeast of Dashti District near the Farrashband boundary of Fars Province. This orchard was irrigated by a single spring and local cultivars such as Kabkab, Khanizi, Hallo, Zahedi and others have been planted from 50 years ago. Due to old-aged and non-economic condition of the orchards, some growers have planted the offshoots of date palm among the orchards. Evaluation of the infested trees started immediately by attendance of local professional and expert team. Monitoring the special parts of affected plants specially the base of fronds, base of offshoots and any exudate or gum from the trunks was conducted. By pruning the base of fronds and removing the fibers of trees around the frond basis a great and deep hole inside the trunk was observed. The holes were not visible from outside the trunk but by precise sampling, the holes continued inside the trunk from crown to the beginning of fresh fronds in which different instars of larvae, pupae and adults of beetles could be seen. The samples were sent by Plant Protection Organization for final recognition and approval to Plant Protection Institute and the pest was recognized as red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Oliv.) (Col.: Dryophthoridae). For more survey of other trees and orchards, the professional team of Sistan and Baluchestan Province was called and the monitoring was conducted in 2 phases in Hanashour and other villages around it. After approval of infestation to red palm weevil, the trees infested more than 70% were eradicated and the trees less than it were treated by full pruning of the frond basis and spraying by 2/1000 Malathion followed by covering with full-proof plastic and implementation of round tablets of Aluminium phosphide. Based on the surveys, it seems that this pest has been introduced in Bushehr province by infested offshoots from infested neighbor provinces. Despite the various cultivars of date palm in that region, this pest has been observed only on Kabkab cultivar. This is the first report of red palm weevil activity in Bushehr Province.