Animal field guide
Red Palm Weevil
Rhynchophorus ferrugineus
A large rust-red weevil whose larvae tunnel through the soft tissue inside a palm's trunk and crown. Damage stays hidden for months, and by the time the central fronds wilt the tree is often beyond saving. It attacks coconut, date and oil palms among others.
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Get AnimalDexRed Palm Weevil at a glance
Animal · North Africa & Middle East · Palm plantations · Relatively common
Known for: Rusty-red body, Long, Black spots on the thorax, Elbowed antennae set near the base of the snout
Animal field guide
Red Palm Weevil
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A large rust-red weevil whose larvae tunnel through the soft tissue inside a palm's trunk and crown. It attacks coconut, date and oil palms among others.
Native range
Natural range, not this capture location
Palm plantations, date groves, coastal coconut stands and ornamental palms in parks and streets. Native to south and south-east Asia, and now widespread in date-growing regions of the Middle East and North Africa.
Search near meAnimalDex stats
Dominance
12
Speed
18
Size
5
Intelligence
20
Rarity
24%
Total
79
Size scale
STEP 2 · PROVE IT
STEP 3 · BATTLE & FUSE
Understand the animal
Understand the Red Palm Weevil
Factual biology first: what this animal is like, where it lives, how it survives, and why those traits exist.
01
Introduction to Red Palm Weevil
A large rust-red weevil whose larvae tunnel through the soft tissue inside a palm's trunk and crown. Damage stays hidden for months, and by the time the central fronds wilt the tree is often beyond saving. It attacks coconut, date and oil palms among others.
How to identify a Red Palm Weevil
- Rusty-red body, roughly 2.5 to 4 cm long
- Long, curved snout
- Black spots on the thorax, variable in number
- Elbowed antennae set near the base of the snout
Why Red Palm Weevil are interesting
- Males release an aggregation pheromone that draws both sexes, and it is used as bait in monitoring traps.
- The crunching of larvae feeding inside a trunk can sometimes be heard or picked up with acoustic sensors.
- The fat larvae of this and related palm weevils are eaten as food in parts of south-east Asia.
- Moving infested young palms and offshoots for planting has carried it far beyond its native range.
02
Adaptations and biological abilities
03
Why does Red Palm Weevil behave this way?
- Rusty-red body, roughly 2.5 to 4 cm long
- Long, curved snout
- Black spots on the thorax, variable in number
- Elbowed antennae set near the base of the snout
Adults are active and fly mainly by day, sheltering in leaf axils and crowns at night.
04
Why Palm plantations?
Habitat: Palm plantations, date groves, coastal coconut stands and ornamental palms in parks and streets. Native to south and south-east Asia, and now widespread in date-growing regions of the Middle East and North Africa.
Native range: North Africa & Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia
Native range
Natural range, not this specific capture location.
Palm plantations, date groves, coastal coconut stands and ornamental palms in parks and streets. Native to south and south-east Asia, and now widespread in date-growing regions of the Middle East and North Africa.
05
Why this diet?
Larvae feed on the palm's soft, sugary internal tissue, above all the growing point in the crown and the bases of leaf stalks, and leave chewed fibres behind. Adults take fermenting sap at wounds and cut surfaces.
06
Activity, rest, and lifespan
Adults are active and fly mainly by day, sheltering in leaf axils and crowns at night.
Adults commonly live two to three months. Egg to adult takes roughly three to four months, depending on temperature.
07
Red Palm Weevil reproduction
A female uses her snout to make holes in wounds or soft tissue and lays eggs singly, commonly around 200 to 300 in her life. Larvae pass through a variable number of moults before pupating in an oval cocoon woven from palm fibres.
Males have a row of short bristles along the upper side of the snout near its tip; females have a longer, thinner, bare and more curved snout.
08
Predators, threats, and defense
Recorded natural enemies include predatory earwigs, parasitic nematodes and fungal diseases such as Beauveria, several of which have been tested as control agents. Adults are protected by a hard, thick body shell.
09
Conservation and rarity
Rarity: Relatively common · 24/100. AnimalDex canonical rarity score: 24/100, maintained by the live indexed species profile.
- Observe from a respectful distance and avoid changing the animal's behavior.
- Do not block feeding, shelter, nesting, or travel routes.
- Use a live camera capture without handling or staging wildlife.
Speak to the animal
Speak to the Red Palm Weevil
It answers as itself: ask about how it lives, or bring it something of yours and hear what it would do, from its own Power.
Anonymous: 3/day. Signed-in: 10/day. Pro: 100/day.
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Compare the Red Palm Weevil
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Battled in the Arena
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Where to find them
Where to find Red Palm Weevil
To find Red Palm Weevil in the wild, focus on the exact habitat patches that match its body design and daily behavior, not just the broad country where it exists. You usually do better by working one good piece of habitat inside north Africa & Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia than by covering too much ground.
- Headlands, reef edges, island colonies, tidal channels, or productive coastal water
- Burrow systems, sandy banks, fallen logs, or ground with clear den entrances
- Protected habitat blocks within north Africa & Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia
Scientific name
Rhynchophorus ferrugineus
Category
Animal
Habitat
Palm plantations, date groves, coastal coconut stands and ornamental palms in parks and streets. Native to south and south-east Asia, and now widespread in date-growing regions of the Middle East and North Africa.
Rarity
Relatively common · 24/100
Native range
North Africa & Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia
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