The infestation degrees, age, and stem heightby the red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier)were evaluated on two cultivars (Zaglol and Samany) in four Governorates (Dakahlia, Qaluobia, Behera, and Giza) during four years (2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006) and occurrence of the insect stages was also recorded.
Based on the data from the four Governorates, the infestation by RPW was high in Giza Governorate, moderate in both Behera and Qaluobia, whereas the infestation was low in Dakahlia Governorate. The obtained results indicate that 4348 (16.88%) and 3132 (12.94%) date palms were found infested by RPW on Zaglol and Samany cultivars. The infestation was the highest in Giza Governorate while it was the lowest in Dakahlia Governorate on Zaglol and Samany cultivars. Out of 4348 infested date palms recorded during the survey, 3228 (74.24%) date palms were with low infestation, 725 (16.67%) with medium infestation, and 390 (8.96%) with high infestation on Zaglol cultivar. Meanwhile, with respect to Samany cultivar, 2356 (75.22%) date palms were with low infestation, 471 (15.04%) with medium infestation, and 305 (9.74%) with high infestation.
During the study period, the red palm weevil infestation on both cultivars was high in date palms belonging to the age group of 6-10 years followed by the date palms belonging to the age group of 1-5 years. Meanwhile, it was very low in the age group of 16-20 and >20 years.
The results indicated that the maximum infestation by RPW on Zaglol and Samany cultivars was found in date palms with stem height of 4.0 to 6.0 m, followed by the stem height of 0.0 to 3.0 m, 7.0 to 9.0 m, and 10.0 to 12.0 m, while it was low in date palms with stem height of >12 m. Based on the statistical analysis, there were significance differences between the different stem heights of date palms in all years among the Governorate. In addition, there were significance variations between Governorates among the same year in each stem height.
In conclusion, the data suggest that the insect had two main active seasons annually. The first adult brood was observed in February and the second one was in August.