Hello RPW group,

The appeal from Georgia arrived this
afternoon and I sent a reply to Kristi Pelikh
soon after. It is dismaying that his 26.3
request for advice was not relayed to the group
until almost three weeks later. Does anyone
among us still need reminding that an infested palm should be treated a.s.a.p?

As noted previously, the RPWgroup's
response has been disappointing elsewhere
too. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. So here go two further requests:

1. Pheromone(/kairomone) traps are almost
certainly not available in Georgia. While they
cost an exorbitant 30-40€ retail in Europe, I
understand traps can be obtained for 3$ in India,
1€ in Jordan and, most impressive, are
distributed free in Saudi. Can anyone in the
list recommend a suitable wholesale source?

2. A.C. Oehlschlager found that most
Rhynchophorus palmarum escaped from traps in the
Americas unless insecticide was added. But this
may be a particularly strong and enterprising
sp. R. ferrugineus, on the other hand, appears
torpid (like most larger Coleoptera) and not
agile enough to flee once inside the
bucket. They are certainly being captured in
Portugal without synthetic poisons. Please, what are others' experiences?

Finally, apologies for the shabby,
unsolicited publicity appended to these messages.

Kind regards,

Antonio Lambe