Handbook ofMajor Palm Pests: Biology and Management, zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA First Edition. Edited by Victoria Soroker and Stefano Colazza. © 2017 John Wiley zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA & Sons Ltd. Published 2017 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. As mentioned in Chapter 3, this volume, in the last decade the invasive species Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (red palm weevil, RPW) and Paysandisia archon (palm borer moth, PBM) have caused considerable damage to palm trees in the Mediter- ranean Basin. The two native European palm tree species (Phoenix theophrasti and Chamaerops humilis) seem to be less susceptible to RPW than the other common palm species (Kontodimas et al. 2006; Dembilio et al. 2011; Giovino et al. 2012). On the other hand, C. humilis is highly susceptible to PBM (Fig. 9.34). To date, there has been only one record of infestation of P. theophrasti by PBM (Psirofonia and Niamouris 2013) (Fig. 9.17). The cryptic behavior of these pests is the major obstacle to early identification of the infestation and characterization of infestation severity. Nevertheless, visual examina- tion of palm trees is the most common practice for infestation detection. The common practice is to inspect the palm's shape, in particular crown symmetry, and leaf color and shape, with a focus on the condition of the spur leaf (Soroker et al. 2013, 2014). The stipe is also inspected for any wounds/tunnels, dry secretions, or oozing. However, not all commonly observed symptoms are pathognomonic (i.e. definitive indications of a certain infestation/infection or condition) of these pests. Some are shared with phys- iological deficiencies, pathogenic diseases, or other pests. Some symptoms are more specific to particular palm species but not others. This chapter describes the visual pathognomonic and non-pathognomonic symptoms in most common and economi- cally important palm species in the Mediterranean Basin. 9.1 Introduction 1 Department of Entomology & Agricultural Zoology, Benaki Phytopathological Institute, Athens, Greece 2 Department of Entomology, Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Rishon LeZion, Israel 3 Department of Pesticides' Control and Phytopharmacy, Benaki Phytopathological Institute, Athens, Greece "Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Applied Entomology Section, University of Catania, Italy 5Centre de cooperation intemationale en recherche agronomique pour le developpement (CIRAD), Biological System Department, Research Unit Bioagresseurs, France 6 Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Marche Polytechnic University, Italy Visual Identification and Characterizationof zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPO Rhynchophorus ferrugineus and Paysandisia archon Infestation Dimitris Kontodimas 1, Victoria Soroker2, Costas Pontikakos3, Pompeo Suma4, Laurence Beaudoin-Ollivier5, Filitsa Karamaouna3 and Paola Rio/06 9 1187