RHINOCEROS BEETLE
Oryctes rhinocerosL.

 

                    
Adult    Grub Infested Palm

 

NATURE OF DAMAGE AND SYMPTOMS

 Adult beetle bores through the unopened fronds and spathes. The fronds in which the beetle has bored when opened show characteristic geometric cuts. Infested   spathe dries up.

LIFE CYCLE

 The adult beetle breeds on decaying organic debris such as farmyard manure, dead coconut stumps and logs and compost etc. The fully-grown grub is ash grey and ‘C’ shaped with brownish hairs  on the  body . Pupation takes place in  cocoon.   The life cycle is completed in   six months.   Adult is a stout built black beetle with a horn which is very prominent in the case of males.

INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

 
Field sanitation – removal of decaying logs and breeding materials
  Hooking out of beetles from the crown periodically with the GI hooks.
Leaf axil filling with 10g Naphthalene balls (4 Nos.) + sand or neem cake / marroti cake
(Hydnocarpus sp.) 250 g + fine sand (250g)/ during May, September and December.
Prophylactic treatment with chloranthrinipol @ 6 gm/ palm in 200 g of sand.
Release of beetles inoculated with Oryctes baculovirus @ 10 – 15 beetles / ha. *
Treatment of breeding sites with Metarhizium anisopliae during monsoon season. *
Place PVC pheromone traps @ one per hectare.