Rhinoceros beetle pest population occurs round the year but maximum during the June – Sept. The adult is a stout beetle measuring 30-40 mm in length. On the face, the beetle has a pointed horn and hence the name rhinoceros beetle.
Symptoms of damage
- The beetle injures the trees by boring into the unopened fronds, central shoot, and spathes. The boring beetle chews the internal tissues and throws out the fibrous part which is indicative of the presence of the beetle in the crowns.
- As they bore into the crown, they cut through the developing leaves. When the leaves grow out and unfold, the damage appears as V-shaped cuts in the fronds and holes through the midrib.
The damage caused by the beetle is more serious in young trees. The beetle breeds in decaying organic substances, eggs are laid on dead palm trunks and compost pits. After hatching initially grub feeds on decaying organic matter and develops into an adult beetle.
Chewed fibrous material
v-shaped cuttings
Management practices
- Periodical examination of the breeding places and destruction of eggs, grubs, and pupae by raking and turning up the manure pits. Also treating breeding places with carbaryl 50 WP 3g/lit.
- A hooked wire can be used to extract and destroy beetle. Then fill up the holes with sevidol 8G 25 g.
- Place phorate 10G 5 g mixed with sand and neem cake in innermost leaf axils for 2 times at 6 months interval.
- Use pheromone traps with rhinolure @ 8/ ha for trapping the adult beetles and destroy them.
- Field release of Baculovirus oryctes inoculated adult rhinoceros beetle @ 10/ha reduces the leaf and crown damage.
Beetles collected in a pheromone trap
