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Turkish Journal of Zoology

Abstract

Palms are slow-growing arboreal monocots predominantly distributed across warm regions and are frequently incorporated into parks, gardens, and roadsides. The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, is a highly destructive invasive insect that threatens palms. This field study investigated the effectiveness of a seismic sensor system to detect R. ferrugineus larvae on palm trees in the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Culture Park. This park is home to a diverse collection of palm species, including Washingtonia sp. and Phoenix dactylifera. Seismic sensors were attached to the trunks of palm trees to detect the vibrations caused by feeding R. ferrugineus larvae and calibrated to distinguish between normal tree vibrations and those indicative of infestation. The number of clean, suspected, and infested trees was monitored regularly from 2023 to 2024. Results showed that the infestation rate of palm trees in the park area did not exceed 5%. A targeted control approach was adopted using Confidor SL 200 insecticide (Bayer Crop Science, Leverkusen, Germany), which was injected into the trunk. The efficacy of the insecticide during the surveillance period was 16–75%. This targeted control approach based on seismic detection can significantly reduce the use of insecticides and provide a more sustainable and environmentally friendly approach to palm tree protection.

Author ORCID Identifier

HARUN ÇİMEN: 0000-0002-0106-4183

İBRAHİM ÇAKMAK: 0000-0003-1903-3913

MUSTAPHA TOURAY: 0000-0002-9550-0782

SELÇUK HAZIR: 0000-0001-9298-1472

DOI

10.55730/1300-0179.3228

Keywords

Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, palm trees, seismic sensors, pest control

First Page

233

Last Page

240

Publisher

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK)

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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