By Mark Muckenfuss

It’s a bit of a whack-a-mole kind of thing.

One invasive pest gets knocked down, such as the European grapevine moth or the red palm weevil, and another pops up.

This time it’s the South American palm weevil, an inch-and-a-half-long black beetle that loves Canary Island palms – like those lining Riverside’s Victoria Avenue – and kills the trees within months. The top fronds of the tree die and fall off, leaving the tree looking as though it has lost its crown.