Bug FAQRed Palm Weevil
Rhynchophorus ferrugineus · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Dryophthoridae
Also called: Asian palm weevil, Sago palm weevil
Source: Wikipedia
Adult red palm weevils are 2 to 4 cm long and usually rusty red, though many colour forms exist. The larvae bore holes up to a metre long in the trunks of coconut, date and oil palms, eventually killing the trees.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
They are typically rusty red, but many colour variants have been described as separate species.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure between 2 and 4 cm (about 1 to 1½ inches) in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Is it a pest in the house?
Infestations cause yellowing and wilting of palms, often leading to the plant’s death.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They are a major pest of coconut, date and oil palm plantations. They are now well established in most of Portugal, especially the southern region.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae tunnel into palm trunks, creating holes up to a metre long. In Southeast Asian cuisine the larvae are eaten as a delicacy.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The whole life cycle lasts about three to four months. Eggs hatch into white, legless larvae.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species originates from tropical Asia, including countries such as Bangladesh, India, China, Japan, Vietnam and others.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
A 2010 California report was a misidentification of the related species R. vulneratus, not this weevil.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What trees do they damage?
The larvae bore into coconut, date and oil palms, eventually killing the trees.
Source: Wikipedia
Where are they originally from?
They come from tropical Asia, including Bangladesh, India, China, Japan, Vietnam and several other countries.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Dryophthoridae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhynchophorus_ferrugineus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.