The Ministry of Rural Affairs and Environment is shortly expected to set up a commission to study the impact the red palm weevil is having on palm trees and devise a plan of action in a bid to try and halt its rapid spread, a spokesman said.

Environment Minister George Pullicino made the decsion following advice that Palm tree could disappear from the Maltese landscape because the weevil, a beetle that thrives on palms, has already infected dozens of trees and is destroying a lot of them. What's more, the weevil is spreading fast.

The beetle was first discovered in a Wardija garden some time in July but it is not known whether it had been here earlier. Traps baited with pheromone immediately proved the beetle's presence, Marica Gatt, the Director of Plant Heath at the Rural Affairs Ministry, told The Times. Since then, its spread started being noted in spite of a plan to try and stem it.

From Wardija and St Paul's Bay, cases have now been detected in Hamrun and Qormi.

Dr Gatt said the Plant Heath Department was recommending both showering with insecticide as well as injecting the trees.

Traps are also being used even if only males are trapped. However, the use of traps does reduce the population and the possibility of the beetles mating and continuing to multiply.

A reader of The Times, who preferred not to be named, said he had managed to stem the infestation in some trees by injecting them with insecticide.

Holes have to be drilled at an angle of 45 degrees as close as possible to the crown and about 15 centimetres deep into the tree. A strong dose of insecticide is then injected. Infected palm trees showed signs of recovery after being so treated, he said.

The problem is that no tests are being carried out to see how long insecticide injections could last and to devise an effective management programme against the insect.

The advantage of injecting the trees was that insecticides were contained inside the tree and did not have side effects on other insects and fauna.

The commission about to be set up is expected to recommend the best practices for the eradication of the pest while having the least possible impact on other species.

Dr Gatt said it was evident the weevil had been imported but one could not simply ban as such a move would violate World Trade Organisation rules.

Quarantine for trees has been imposed and, as the weevil is as yet not reported in Gozo, the movement of palm trees between the two islands has been banned.

The Environment Ministry is seeing what further steps can be taken because it is feared that the pest could adapt and attack other tree species.

The weevil is wreaking havoc in the Middle East and Europe and some Arab countries are experiencing a loss of income as palm trees there are cultivated for dates.

In the Middle East, the palm tree has a cultural, religious and economic significance, whereas in Malta it only has an aesthetic value.

The red palm weevil was first noted in 1891 in India and was recognised as a serious pest of the coconut palm in 1906. By 1917 it was described as a serious pest in the date palm in the Punjab, India. A year later it caused serious damage to the date palm in Iraq. In the mid-1980s, it was discovered in the Arabian Gulf countries and has become a most destructive pest of date palms in the Middle East.

Research is being carried out in a bid to control the weevil but, because in many countries the fruit is harvested, the use of insecticides has to be limited.

Weevils seem to prefer palm trees that are under 20 years old as the stem of the young palm is soft and can be penetrated easily. An adult female beetle enters the crown of the trees and lays up to 300 eggs. It can also lay its eggs in cracks, from where offshoots emerge. The eggs hatch in two to five days and the legless grubs bore into the interior of the palms, feeding on the soft succulent tissues and discarding fibrous material.

The larval period varies from one to three months. The grubs turn to pupae in a cylindrical cocoon made out of fibrous strands. At the end of the pupation period, which lasts 14 to 21 days, the adult weevils emerge. The whole life cycle is about four months.

It is difficult to detect the early infestation, as the larva begins its life inside the palm and usually does not come to the surface. Hence, neither the larva nor the damage it causes can be seen. As the infestation progresses, a brownish viscous liquid starts oozing and pieces of chewed fibres can be seen emerging from small holes in the crown or the stem.

The attack by the weevil is noticed only when the tree is practically beyond repair.

The rotting of tissue due to infestation by this pest presents a characteristic odour. Wilting or yellowing of leaves is usually observed.

The larvae are responsible for damaging the palm and once they have gained access, the death of the palm generally ensues.

The damage caused by a few larvae of the weevil is astonishing. Even one larva may cause considerable damage and, sometimes, the death of a palm.