A beetle, which until now had not been registered in Uruguay, known as Picudo Rojo is killing 162 palm trees in four municipalities of Canelones, according to a survey carried out by the departmental government. Also was detected in Montevideo and Floridaas reported to The ObserverFederico López, director of Heritage of Canelones.
The insect “lays eggs on the leaves and the larvae eat the root of the leaves, the stem”Lopez explained. In this sense, people should be careful because there is “risk that the entire crown” of the palm trees will fall.
The beetle —with the scientific name Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier— was first identified in March of this year. The park team Quinta de Capurro discovered that the Red Palm Weevil was the unusual condition that was killing its palm trees Phoenix canariensis, according to a statement from the Canarian commune.
Later, the administration contacted the Ministry of Livestock and the Faculty of Agronomy, and informed them of the seriousness. For the heritage director in Canelones, the situation “involves national measures”. López reported that cases were found in Montevideo and Florida.
In Canelones they detected 162 palm trees with different degrees of damage will lead them to death— in an area of 400 km2, covering four municipalities
In the Canarian commune, the Directorates of Heritage and Environmental Management, as well as the Housing and Citizen Coexistence Agency, developed an action protocol to respond to the emergency. They are waiting for a resolution from the Ministry of Livestock to deal with the situation.
