This work introduces a device for long term systematic monitoring of trees against borers. A widely applied way to detect wood-boring insects is to insert a piezoelectric probe with uncoated waveguide in the tree trunk and listen for locomotion or feeding sounds through headphones. This approach has several shortcomings: a) frequent manual inspection of trees is costly and impractical to be scaled to hundreds or thousands of trees, b) the larvae could be present but inactive during the inspection time and, c) when the trees are in urban environments the background noise can be significant and can mask the feeble sounds of wood-boring insects even with the use of specialized headphones. We introduce a remotely controlled device that records and wirelessly transmits on a scheduled basis short recordings of the internal vibrations of a tree to a server. The user can listen remotely or process the recording automatically to infer the infestation state of the tree with wood-boring insects that feed or move inside the tree. When integrated within the IoT framework this device can scale up to automatically monitoring the trees of the entire city. The proposed approach led to detection results in field trials of the pests Xylotrechus chinensis and Rhynchophorus ferrugineus.

The red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) inflicts widespread damage in date palm plantations and urban settings, leading to stand loss and safety concerns, intensified by the economic and ecological burdens of synthetic preventive treatments. A novel approach emphasizes detecting weevil-infested palms through sensors and targeting control efforts at colonized trees. The study analyzes two datasets: field manager-reported results from settings with preventive pest control versus seismic sensor-monitored units. Sensor data translates into damage index values, exploring curative treatments, attack likelihood based on infestation history, and the impact of sensor-based management on infestation incidence decline. Findings reveal lower weevil infestation in urban areas and preventive-treated palm settings. A strong correlation exists between sensor indications and grower decisions in date plantations. Palms previously infested are more prone to the damage. Long-term sensor-based management significantly reduces weevil-affected palm numbers. The high infestation in sensor-equipped date palm settings stems from a gap between sensor-identified and preventively treated palms. Controlling weevils based on sensor indications aligns practically with grower curative treatments, preventing significant damage. Weevils target previously infested palms, optimizing pest control through a continuous strategy integrating sensor monitoring with prompt response treatments. This proves highly effective, offering a cost-efficient alternative to preventive treatment reliance.