Italy's coastal palm trees under attack by army of weevils
They provide shade to sunbathers on scorching hot days and a stunning backdrop to some of Europe's most fabled coastal scenery, but Italy's palm trees are being devastated by a voracious bug.
By Nick Squires in Rome
Published: 10:00PM BST 30 May 2010
From Sicily in the south to the Italian Riviera in the north, tens of thousands of palm trees are dead or dying as a result of the insatiable appetite of an army of red palm weevils.
The relentless advance of the tiny beetle is threatening parks, gardens and seafronts in Italy's best known tourist destinations, from the World Heritage-listed Cinque Terre villages of Liguria to the beach resorts of Tuscany, Sardinia and the Adriatic.
Palms are not indigenous to Italy, but were introduced in the 18th and 19th centuries by wealthy collectors and aristocrats keen to give their estates an exotic look.
The threat posed by the weevil in Italy is acute, because one of the country's most popular palms is a species native to the Canary Islands, Phoenix canariensis, which is particularly susceptible to the insect.
"It is really a disaster, there are tens of thousands of palms which are dead or dying," said Valeria Francatti, an entomologist who is researching ways of combating the weevils.
"The weevil gets right into the heart of the tree, so by the time the damage becomes apparent on the outside, it's already too late."
Munching their way from top to bottom, the weevils eventually kill the crown of the tree. The bugs are so industrious that their burrowing can often be heard if you place your ear against the trunk of a palm tree.
The natural habitat of the red palm weevil is Asia, but the beetle established a presence in the Middle East in the 1990s after arriving in shipments of infected palm trees.
From there, the weevil rapidly spread west into northern Africa, devastating date plantations before arriving in southern Italy in 2004.
It has since pushed north, eating its way through an estimated 13,000 palms in Sicily and threatening tens of thousands more on the Italian mainland.
In Rome, the bug has decimated the capital's historic parks, many of them formerly private gardens surrounding sumptuous private villas such as Villa Sciarra and Villa Torlonia.
"At present we have no effective method of killing the weevil," said Pio Federico Roversi, a scientist at the Council of Agricultural Research in Florence.
"It is often impossible to use chemicals because many palms are planted near beaches or in towns and cities, where insecticides would pose a risk to human health.
Researchers in Sicily have found they can capture the bugs using traps laced with pheromones, but deploying the contraptions is time-consuming and costly.
The only guaranteed way of ensuring that palms do not become the bugs' next meal is to chop them all down – a self-defeating strategy.
Complicating matters, a 2007 law obliges Italians who have dead or dying palms on their properties to report them to the authorities before taking action.
But most people fail to do so because they baulk at footing the 1,500 euro (£850) bill for having the tree cut down, chopped into pieces, removed and burned.
Rabies and the threat of this deadly disease
Rabies, a disease that's been around for 4,000 years.And while it hasn't been a huge problem here. A form of the disease we haven't seen, is making its way to eastern Idaho. Animal control officer, David Blakeman said, "A lot of people don't think rabies is fatal but once you start showing signs, the only treatment is hospice." Once you have rabies the only end in sight, is death. But how is it spread? Saliva and other bodily fluids. It's most commonly transmitted through an animal bite, usually by a bat or a dog.In the state of Idaho there are 14 species of bats, according to Idaho officials, the most common rabies carrier is the silver haired bat. Bats that are tested for the disease are normally ones that are already low to the ground. Which means there is a chance they may already be sick. Blakeman said, "About "10 percent of bats have rabies."
The normal incubation time for a human to show signs of the disease is about 8 weeks but can range as long as a year. Dogs and cats are about 10 days. Blakeman said, "We quarantine it for 10 days and if it fails to show any signs whatsoever, then it doesn't have rabies." Dogs and cats will go for just about anything you through on the ground, so it is important to remember that when a bat is flying low or on the ground, chances are it's sick, which means your animal should stay away.
If you are worried about the disease being spread, the chances are slim, but get your animal vaccinated and you will be fine. The biggest worry is that in a few years Idaho will have to worry about ground rabies. Animals such as skunks, squirrels, rabbits.. Anything that is on the ground.. It is migrating from eastern Montana and Southern Wyoming. Blakeman tells us, "Its coming, it will be here, but we don't really have it"
The best advice for anyone who likes to explore, hike, or just loves animals. Blakeman said, "Love your own and leave the rest alone, you don't want to touch other dogs you don't know if they have been vaccinated, keep your dogs away from them." Signs of the disease are foaming of the mouth, stumbling around and of course the animal will be rabid. Rabies is a deadly disease that goes unnoticed until its too late. any type of mammal can carry the disease, so it's important to remember that even the friendliest of our furry creatures could be infected. If you have any questions or think an animal could be infected you can contact the Bonneville Animal Control at 529-1117.
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