Pest of the Month October 2008 – Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (Pest Alert)

  • Distribution:  South Pacific (American Samoa, others)
  • Host:  Coconut palm, oil palms, other palm species
  • Symptoms:  V-shaped cuts in the fronds or holes through the midrib
  • Management:  Eliminating the places where they breed and manually destroying adults and immatures.  Also through natural enemies such as pigs, rats, ants, and some beetles and diseases (fungus Metahizium anisopliae and Oryctes virus).   

Source: Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle Pests and Diseases of American Samoa Number 8, American Samoa Community College, Community & Natural Resources, Cooperative Research & Extension 2005

Feeding damage to leaves from adult coconut rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros. Photo by Ben Quicocho. Source – http://itp.lucidcentral.org