A joint research team from the UQU College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine has discovered and registered a new species of red palm weevil in the Kingdom through a research study that monitored its genetic diversity, which is the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa.

According to the research study, this species was discovered in the Qassim region, after studying the diversity and genetic characteristics of the insect, and registering it as a new species (Rhynchophorus bilineatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), in addition to registering it in the international gene bank in the name of Qassim University, which is the first registration of this species in Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries, and the research team from the university included Prof. Dr. Mohammed Al-Dughairi, Prof. Dr. Najdi Farouk, Prof. Dr. Mohammed Mutawa, Medhat Rayhan and Dr. Asmaa Al-Najiban.

The study, published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal with a high impact factor, highlighted the genetic biodiversity of red palm weevil species in the Qassim region and their damage to date palms.

The study is part of the university's ongoing research efforts to support control and prevention campaigns against the red palm weevil, one of the most deadly threats to date palm cultivation in the region.