Blog WotD About Glossary

Red-ring-disease

Guides

Billaea
Billaea is a genus of tachinid flies comprising approximately 80 described species. Most larvae are parasitoids of beetle larvae, particularly cerambycids and lucanids, with some species attacking lepidopteran hosts in the family Pyralidae. Several species have been investigated as biological control agents for agricultural and forestry pests, including palm weevils and sugarcane borers.
Tachinidae parasitoid biological-control Cerambycidae Dryophthoridae Crambidae viviparous planidia forest-pest agricultural-pest oil-palm sugarcane palm-weevil wood-borer southeast-Asia South-America Europe Bulgaria Brazil Turkey Mexico Peru integrated-pest-management natural-enemy host-searching kairomones superparasitism mass-rearing Galleria-mellonella laboratory-host frass gallery tunnel pupal-parasitoid larval-parasitoid ectoparasitoid endoparasitoid Coleoptera Lepidoptera Diptera Brachycera Dexiinae Dexiini Robineau-Desvoidy-1830 80-species global-distribution forestry agriculture ornamental-palms date-palm coconut Rhynchophorus Diatraea Prionus Xylotrechus climate-matching establishment-potential Mediterranean Middle-East California invasive-species red-palm-weevil American-palm-weevil red-ring-disease vector-control natural-mortality pest-management sustainable-agriculture host-specificity trophic-association new-host-record parasitism-rate field-parasitism laboratory-rearing adult-longevity fecundity sex-ratio pupal-viability pupal-duration planidia-length food-resources pollen honey sucrose flowering-plants spontaneous-flora companion-plants habitat-management conservation-biological-control augmentative-biological-control classical-biological-control quarantine host-range circumstantial-evidence taxonomic-confusion B.-rhynchophorae B.-menezesi B.-adelpha B.-claripalpis B.-rutilans B.-cerambycivora B.-steini B.-fortis B.-irrorata B.-pectinata B.-setosa B.-triangulifera B.-lata B.-intermedia B.-biserialis B.-gigantea B.-rubens B.-maritima B.-marmorata B.-aurifrons B.-verticalis B.-flava B.-chinensis B.-brevicauda B.-kurahashii B.-micronychia B.-papei B.-setigera B.-yintiaoling B.-rufescens B.-triquetrus B.-rubida B.-rufiventris B.-brasiliensis B.-friburgensis B.-giacomeli B.-kosterae B.-plaumanni B.-shannoni B.-africana B.-argentaurea B.-atkinsoni B.-capensis B.-communis B.-decisa B.-edwardsi B.-erecta B.-ficorum B.-grandis B.-impigra B.-interrupta B.-kolomyetzi B.-luteola B.-malayana B.-minor B.-monohammi B.-montana B.-morosa B.-nipigonensis B.-orbitalis B.-ovata B.-quadrinota B.-rhingiaeformis B.-robusta B.-satisfacta B.-sibleyi B.-sjostedti B.-solivaga B.-trivittata B.-trochanterata B.-vanemdeni B.-velutina B.-versicolor B.-villeneuvei B.-vitripennis B.-zimini B.-lateralis B.-lativentris
Rhynchophorus palmarum
South American palm weevil, American palm weevil, black palm weevil
Rhynchophorus palmarum is a large black palm weevil native to the Neotropics that has become a destructive invasive pest in southern California. Adults are attracted to volatile compounds released by injured palms, where females lay eggs in the crown. Larvae burrow into the palm heart, causing direct damage and creating wounds that facilitate secondary infections. The weevil is the primary vector of the red ring nematode (Bursaphelenchus cocophilus), which causes lethal red ring disease in palms. In its native range, larvae have been consumed as food for centuries.
invasive-species palm-pest vector nematode-vector agricultural-pest urban-pest traditional-food long-distance-dispersal California-invasion red-ring-disease integrated-pest-management pheromone-trapping