With the red palm weevil still destroying many of Crete’s palm trees, agricultural officials are now watching out for a new culprit – one that would cause harm to the pine trees.

The nematode, or xylophilus, is a worm, invisible to the naked eye, which causes Pine Wilt Disease.

The minute murderer goes through a pine tree’s innards and kills it within weeks by choking off the flow of sap. It travels around in the respiratory system of the sawyer beetle, which deposits its larvae in the wood of coniferous trees.

At the moment, the disease has hit west-central Portugal but a warning has gone out to several other countries, including Greece.

Two species of pine are especially susceptible – the maritime pine and the Scots pine, which is the most widespread in Europe, and is frequently used for Christmas trees.