42 COCONUT PLANTER^ MA.NUAL. 



Old palms are rarely attacked in the trunk or at the base, since by 

 that time the tissues have become too hard to permit larval develop- 

 ment, even if these are still attractive to egg-laying weevils. 



A Declared Pest. 

 The Red Weevil was declared a pest under the Ordinance in 1907 

 at the same time as the Black Beetle, but no general campaign has 

 been waged against this pest. The collection of weevils and the treat- 

 ment of injured palms is carried out on some estates. 



Life-History and Habits of the Different Stages. 

 Weevil. — -The Red Weevil or Palm Weevil is one of the largest of 

 the weevils or snout-bearing beetles. It is usually about l| inches 

 long, including the snout, and is generally of a reddish-brown colour, 

 with black markings behind the head. It varies considerably in 

 size, colour, and markings. The usual shape is indicated in figure 1 

 In both sexes the mouth parts are lengthened in the form of a 

 slender and slightly curved snout or proboscis, which bears a very 

 small pair of biting jaws at the end and a pair of antenna? near the 

 base. The snout of the female is more slender than that of the male, 

 which bears a small "brush" of short hairs on the upper side near 

 the end. The weevils in the adult stage do very little feeding on the 

 palms, but can live for two or three months after emerging from their 

 cocoons. They may sometimes be seen flying about during the day, 

 but are less active after dark. They are quickly attracted to and 

 palm which has been injured by wind, or by knife wounds, or which 

 has been bored by the Black Beetle. Diseased palms are also attrac- 

 tive. Any injured or diseased palm is a favourable breeding place, 

 and the female beetles flock there to lay their eggs. Experiments 

 recently made in the Dutch East Indies with marked Red Weevils 

 indicated that they can detect favourable breeding places at a distance 

 of 1,000 yards, or more than half a mile. 



Efjgs. — The eggs are small, slender, and whitish to creamy- white 

 and are usually about 1-1 0th of an inch long by l-25th of an inch 

 broad. They increase very little in size before hatching in from four 

 to five days. A list of places in which eggs may be laid on a palm is 

 given below (see Habits of Oviposition). 



Grubs or Larvce. — The newly hatched grubs are small and whitish, 

 and in general appearance they closely resemble the full-grown grubs, 



