AN EVALUATION OF INVASIVE PEST, RED PALM WEEVILRHYNCHOPHORUS FERRUGINEUS(OLIVIER, 1790) (COLEOPTERA, CURCULIONIDAE) POPULATION IN IRAQ

The Red Palm Weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus(Olivier, 1790) is a devastating invasive pest of palm trees, invading the Iraqi date palm tree in 2015 for the first time in Safwan county, Basrah province. The Red Palm weevil has been categorized as a quarantine pest of date palm treesworldwide. In this study, a five years monitoring program has been achieved by scouting the invasive pest RPW population in Safwan countyby using visual sampling and Pheromone baitedtraps. The results indicated that the number of infested palms, increased from 12 trees in 2015 to 111 in 16 orchards in 2016. The number of theinfested palms was minimized to 3 trees in the county in 2019 due to the management protocol of the Ministry of Agriculture. Furthermore, the results of RPW adults appeared monthly in the county with two activity peaks during the moderate-temperature-months. In conclusion, the quarantine and management protocol of RPW decreased the population of the invasive pest which did not spread to other districts of Iraq.