[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.