【目的】红棕象甲Rhynchophorus ferrugineus（Olivier）是棕榈科植物上重要入侵害虫之一，寄主及分布范围广。详细了解红棕象甲前胸背板色斑的特征，不仅能够从形态上快速正确地识别，从而为进行有效的监测和防控提供依据，同时为红棕象甲种群多样性在其入侵过程中的适应性和入侵性分析提供理论基础。【方法】 本文通过对21个野外不同地理种群及室内两种体色型的红棕象甲样本的色斑数量、形状及分布位置进行统计分析。【结果】 1）红棕象甲前胸背板色斑一般分前后两行排列，色斑数在2-11个不等；色斑形状有（近）椭圆形、圆形、心形、水滴状、线形、三角形、菱形和不规则形等。2）不同地理种群的色斑在数量，形状和位置分布存在差异。福建省11个地理种群中含有6个和7个色斑数的个体占87.7%，重庆（CQ）种群的个体全部是6个和7个色斑类型；四川（SC）、上海（SH）、云南（YN）、深圳（SZ）4个种群的优势色斑型为6个色斑型，分别占50.0%、45.0%、71.4%和70%；广西（GX）、美洲阿鲁巴岛（Aruba）和台湾地区（TW）种群中7个色斑型个体占大多数，分别为50.0%、77.8%和80%；海南（HN）种群的色斑数主要集中在6个和8个色斑（33.3%和56.7%）；巴基斯坦种群2个色斑类型占68.2%。色斑形状和分布位置的聚类图结果显示地理位置与色斑的形状及位置没有规律性。3）不同地理种群优势色斑的分布没有雌雄特异性。4）经纬度和种群色斑数的相关性分析，结果显示色斑数与地理纬度间存在显著的低度负相关性（r =﹣0.312，P = 0.010），而地理经度与色斑数间没有显著的相关性（r =

﹣0.059，P = 0.635）。5）实验室群体中，黑色型的红棕象甲的优势色斑数为7个，红色型的优势色斑数则为8个，其中，10个色斑类型仅在红色型中存在。色斑数高的色斑类型（色斑数大于7个）在红色型中存在的比例远远高于黑色型（红色型为55.6%，黑色型为2.3%），且红色型的色斑的大小一般为前排小，后排大，这与黑色型存在明显差异。【结论】 不同地理种群的红棕象甲在色斑数量，色斑形状和色斑分布位置上存在差异，但这种差异并没有地理位置的规律性，但在海南和巴基斯坦种群中存在种群特异性，福建和台湾地区种群存在相似性；色斑数多的种群，其色斑形状多样性越高；色斑类型与体色之间存在联系。

[Objectives]  The red palm weevil (RPW), Rhyncophorus ferrugineus (Olivier), has a broad host range and distribution and is one of the most serious pests of palm plants. Gaining a better understanding of the characteristics of the spot pattern distribution on the pronotum can provide basic information not only for improving prevention and management, but also for assessing population diversity, fitness and invasiveness during the process of invasion. [Methods]  Spot number and type were recorded for 21 geographical populations and two color phenotypes of laboratory populations. [Results]  1) Pronotum spots were generally arranged in two rows, with the number of spots ranging from 2 to 11 per adult. Spots had 8 different shapes: oval, round, heart-shaped, water-drop shaped, linear, triangular, rhomboid and anomocytic. 2) The distribution of spots differed between different geographical populations. Phenotypes with 6 and 7 spots were the most common in Fujian Province comprising of 87.7% of all specimens. The Chongqing (CQ) population only had two dominant phenotypes with 6 and 7 spots, respectively. The dominant spot number in Sichuan (SC), Shanghai (SH), Yunnan (YN) and Shenzhen (SZ) populations was 6 spots (50.0%, 45.0%, 71.4% and 70%, respectively). The 7-spot phenotype was dominant in Guangxi (GX) (50.0%), Aruba (77.8%) and Taiwan of China (TW) (80%) populations. Six and 8-spot types (33.3% and 56.7%, respectively) were the most common in Hainan and a 2-spot type was the dominant form in Pakistan (68.2%). Spot shape and distribution on the pronotum varied irregularly with geographical location. 3) The distribution of dominant spot number phenotypes in geographical populations was not related to sex. 4) Spot number was negatively correlated with latitude (r =  ﹣0.312, P = 0.010) and no there was no correlation between spot number and longitude (r =﹣0.059, P = 0.635). 5) The 7-spot type was dominant in the black phenotype population whereas the 8-spot type was dominant in the red phenotype population. The 10-spot type was only present in the red phenotype population. The percentage of relatively high spot number phenotypes (> 7) was higher in the red phenotype than in the black phenotype (red type 55.6% vs black type 2.3%). The spot pattern of the red phenotype was smaller spots in the first row and bigger spots in the second row, which was quite different from that of the black phenotype population. [Conclusion]  Spot number, shape and distribution vary among different geographical populations of the RPW but these differences are not consistent. The Hainan and Pakistan populations had population specific spot patterns, and the Fujian and Taiwan populations had similar spot patterns. Populations with more spots had more diverse spot shapes. Spot number varied with body color of RPW.