First record of the red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) on Socotra Island (Yemen), an exotic pest with h
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SOCOTRA BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH AND NATURE CONSERVATION
First record of the red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) on Socotra Island (Yemen), an exotic pest with high potential for adverse economic impacts Arne Witt1 · Vladimir Hula2 · Ahmed Saeed Suleiman3 · Kay Van Damme4 Received: 9 April 2020 / Accepted: 2 June 2020 © Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei 2020
Abstract We report on the first finding of a widespread exotic pest species, the red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) on date palms Phoenix dactylifera L. (Arecaceae) on Socotra Island, Yemen. Our initial surveys reveal that the pest species is present in date palm plantations on the north-eastern coast of the island, within 5 km of the capital Hadiboh. More surveys are needed to determine the wider distribution of this palm pest on Socotra, and what impact current invasions are having on date production. This invasion, together with the impact of the dubas bug, Ommatissus lybicus de Bergevin (Hemiptera: Tropiduchidae), which seems well established on the island, is likely to have a significant negative impact on livelihoods, since dates are the most important locally produced food, after milk and meat. The invasion provides ample evidence of the risks associated with trade, and the need to strengthen biosecurity measures to protect traditional food production and biodiversity from further pest incursions in this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Graphic abstract
Keywords Socotra archipelago · Red palm weevil · Date palm · Invasive alien species · Pest
1 Introduction This paper belongs to a Topical Collection “Twenty years of biodiversity research and nature conservation in the Socotra Archipelago” edited by Fabio Attorre and Kay Van Damme, conceived at the 18th Friends of Socotra Conference, 26–29 September, 2019, Orto Botanico di Palermo, Palermo, Italy. * Arne Witt [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
The Socotra archipelago consists of four islands, located ca. 380 km south of Ras Fartak on the Gulf of Aden, along the coast of Yemen (Cheung and DeVantier 2006). Socotra Island is the largest island in the archipelago. The climate is largely monsoonal, strongly influenced by the SW and NE monsoon, with sporadic rainfall which varies across the archipelago with season, aspect and elevation (Miller and
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Morris 2004; Scholte and De Geest 2010). Widely recognised as an insular hotspot, the archipelago has high levels of marine and terrestrial biodiversity (Cheung and DeVantier 2006). Its long geographical isolation has resulted in high levels of endemism with about 37% of the 835 plant species considered to be endemic (Miller and Morris 2004; Banfield et al. 2011). Endemism among animal groups, such as terrestrial arthropods, reaches similar to even higher numbers (Bezděk and Hájek 2017). Much of this biodiversity has been inadvertently maintained thanks to the indigenous people of Socotra, who through “complex traditional rules gov
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