Coconut rhinoceros beetle

[WaianaeCrider]

Talked to a friend yesterday in the endangered native plant business.  His opinion of the fight against the Coconut rhinoceros beetle is a lost cause on O`ahu.  "they are everywhere, even found in a bag of mulch at HD".  Lucky none found my palms yet.  Of course I can't see the tops of the tall ones and won't know till they are dead.

 

[Cindy Adair]

So sorry to hear this.

[KrisKupsch]

It has only recently made its way to New Caledonia too. 

[fiji jim]

We have this here now for some decades. At times it has been more aggressive in numbers and damage than others.

There are several control methods. One is to use a pheromone trap. The sachets of pheromone are hung inside a bucket with holes in the lid. The scent attracts the male beetle that then it falls inside the bucket and cannot escape.

Another way is to have a bright light outside at night when they are most active. The light attracts them and one can catch and kill them.

Otherwise palms can be saved by cutting out the beetle from the trunk and then treating the wound with H2O2.

We also spray insecticide on the species that are most attractive to them and that works also.