Some Representative Palm Pests: Ecological and Practical Data

Palms are the food source for a variety of herbivores worldwide. All palm organs can be affected by pests: foliage, roots, flowers, fruit bunches, developing spear, and stems. The herbivores include mainly insects and Acari from different feeding guilds and taxa, in particular: defoliators (Lepidoptera, Orthoptera, and Phasmida), stipe borers (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, and Curculionidae), and sap feeders (Hemiptera). Pest profiles differ among regions and palm species. However, today, many species are found on all continents and new, accidentally introduced insect species have become invasive and a serious threat to palms. There are polyphagous species that can feed on fronds as adults, whereas others spend their entire developmental cycle on palms, with some specialist species living only in these trees. This chapter focuses on major insect pests associated with ornamental and cultivated palms. Their relative importance and distribution by climate and host species will be addressed