Palm trees threatened by invasive pest

What do you think of when you picture southern California? The breezy beach, a cloudless, sunny sky…and maybe some palm trees? Okay, how about a lot of palm trees. They are everywhere. 

Let’s hope our palm trees stick around. 

(photo credit: John Kabashima, UC Cooperative Extension)

The red palm weevil, a small beetle-like pest that can quickly kill palm trees, was first discovered in California last year. Weevil larvae burrow deep into the trunks of palms and grind its insides into mush. Adult weevils munch on palms, including the top-most leaves.

You can read more about it in an article I wrote for this month’s issue of CAPCA’s Adviser magazine, “What’s Bugging California’s Palm Trees?” I had the opportunity to interview Mark Hoddle, an entomologist at UC Riverside who researches the red palm weevil and conducts field work to contain the pest. He keeps a well-documented, up-to-date blog here. 

Speculated to have come from Southeast Asia, its invasion now threatens palms in urban areas, native palms in the desert, and California’s date crops and palm nurseries. In May this year, a second weevil species was caught in a trap in San Diego County. Traps are currently set up around the first sighting in Laguna Beach and along the Mexico-CA border (where the second species was found). 

Ever since doing this article I have put on my palm tree glasses. As a southern California native, I am so used to palm trees that they blend into the background. They weren’t so different from any other tree. But knowing that they are iconic to our state, especially for those who come to visit, I can see ‘em now!