SIGHTING OF SOUTHERN GREY SHRIKES PREYING ON RED PALM WEEVIL IN TWO COUNTRIES

Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, commonly known as Red Palm Weevil, is one of the most destructive and invasive palm pests' species in the world. The most important host species are coconut palms, oil palms, Canary Island palms and it is considered as a key pest in date palms crops. As the existing chemical based treatments are not efficient, the ecofriendly biological control methods have now attracted high interest. In this note, we report for the first time the predation of the Red Palm Weevil by two subspecies of Southern Grey Shrike Lanius meridionalis, once in Spain and once in Saudi Arabia.