413 First Record of the Red Palm Weevil [Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Oliv. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)] in Libya M.A.S. Al-Eryan 1 , I.M. El-Ghariani 2,1 , A. Massry 3 , H.A. Agleyo 2 , S.A. Mohamed 2 , A.A. Ikraem 4 and S.S. Ismail 4 1 Dept. Economic Entomology, Fac. of Agric., Alexandria Un., Egypt 2 Plant Protection Dept., Fac. of Agric., Omar Al-Mukhtar Un., Libya 3 Dept. Biology, Fac. of Science, Tobruk, Omar Al-Mukhtar Un., Libya 4 Pest Control Center, Eastern region, Libyan Ministry of Agriculture, Libya Abstract The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Oliv. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is an economically important, tissue-boring pest of date palm in many parts of the world. In Libya, adults of R. ferrugineus were collected occasionally from Tobruk city during January 2009. In May 2009, 40 pheromone- keromone traps were introduced by the Pest Control Center, Libyan Agriculture Ministry; 19 traps were placed at 19 smallholder farms inside Tobruk city; 14 traps were placed at 14 smallholder farms outside the city (more than 15 km from the city center). Seven traps were placed at 7 commercial farms at El-Gaghboob oasis (300 km south Tobruk) to detect and monitor the red palm weevil. Data revealed that the occurrence of adults was in the center of Tobruk. The mean recorded numbers ranged between 0.33-7.91 adults/trap/week. The total numbers of collected adults was 565 during the investigation period. Traps placed at Tobruk borders and El-Gaghboob oasis did not record any attracted adults. Detection and monitoring of red palm weevil should be undertaken in other places in Libya because it invaded many close countries. INTRODUCTION The date palm, Phoenix dactylifera (Palmae) is the most common and widely cultivated plant in the arid regions of the Middle East and North Africa where, in many areas, its fruit has provided the staple carbohydrate food of local people for nearly 5000 years (Purseglove, 1972; Jones, 1995; Murphy and Briscoe, 1999). The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Oliv., (RPW) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) (Figs.1-4), is an economically important, tissue-boring pest of date palm in many parts of the world. The date palm crop in these countries is now under threat. In the mid 1980s, it was discovered attacking palms in the Arabian peninsula (Gush, 1997; Abraham et al., 1998). It was recorded for the first time in the United Arab Emirates in 1986; it was then found in Saudi Arabia in 1987 and in the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1992. However, it has now crossed the Red Sea into North Africa, as the latest record is from the Sharqiya region of Egypt (Cox, 1993). By 1995, it had infested over 10,000 farms across Arabia. In infested plantations, yields have been estimated to have dropped from 10 tonnes to 0.7 tonnes per hectare (Gush, 1997). Females lay about 300 eggs in separate holes. These eggs are creamy white, oval in shape about 2.6 mm long to 1.1 mm wide. The eggs hatch in 2 to 5 days into legless grubs which bore into the interior of the palm and feed on the soft tissues of the palm. The length of the full grown larva is 50 mm and the width is 20 mm. The larval period varies between 1-3 months. Then a pupa is formed (cocoon) and at the end of the pupation period the adult emerges.(Figs. 1-5). The weevils are attracted to dying or damaged parts of palms but it is possible that undamaged palms are also attacked. The males of R. ferrugineus produce a pheromone which causes the weevils to aggregate on damaged trees (Gunawardena and Bandarage, 1995). The larvae can only bore in soft tissue; for example, in the tree crown, upper part of the trunk and at the base of petioles. They can also bore into the trunk of young palms 1 ghariani99@yahoo.com Proc. 4 th Int. Date Palm Conference Eds.: A. Zaid and G.A. Alhadrami Acta Hort. 882, ISHS 2010