The red palm weevil (RPW) is a stem boring Coleoptera that decimates host palm trees from within. The challenge of managing this pest is due to a lack of physical symptoms during the early stages of infestation. Investigating the physiological changes that occur within RPW-infested palm trees may be useful in establishing a new approach in RPW detection. In this study, the effects of RPW infestation were investigated in Elaeis guineensis by observing changes in physical and physiological parameters during the progress of infestation by visual inspection and the comparison of growth, gas exchange, stomatal conductance, and chlorophyll content between the non-infested control, physically wounded, and RPW-infested E. guineensis groups. During the study period, four distinct levels of physical infestation were observed and recorded. The RPW-infested group displayed significantly lower maximum photosynthesis activity (A_max) starting from the third week post-infestation. However, growth in terms of change in plant height and stem circumference, leaves’ stomatal conductance, and chlorophyll content were not significantly different between the three groups during the duration of the study. The significant drop in photosynthesis was observed one week before physical changes appeared. This suggests the promising utilisation of photosynthesis activity as a signal for detecting RPW infestation at the early stage of attacks, which could be useful for integration in integrated pest management (IPM).

中文翻译：

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对红棕榈象鼻虫出没的油棕的物理和生理监测。

红棕榈象鼻虫（RPW）是一种无聊的鞘翅目，从内部抽离宿主棕榈树。控制这种害虫的挑战是由于在侵扰的早期阶段缺乏身体症状。调查在被RPW感染的棕榈树中发生的生理变化可能对建立RPW检测的新方法很有用。在这项研究中，通过目视检查并观察了未感染的生长，气体交换，气孔导度和叶绿素含量之间的比较，通过观察感染过程中生理参数的变化，研究了吉利油菜（Elaeis guineensis） RPW感染的影响。对照，身体受伤和RPW感染的吉尼斯大肠杆菌组。在研究期间，观察并记录了四个不同水平的身体侵扰。从感染后第三周开始，感染RPW的组显示出明显降低的最大光合作用活性（A _max）。但是，在研究期间，三组之间在植物高度和茎周长，叶片气孔导度和叶绿素含量变化方面的增长没有显着差异。在出现物理变化之前一周观察到光合作用显着下降。这表明光合作用有希望地用作攻击初期检测RPW侵染的信号，这可能有助于整合有害生物综合治理（IPM）。