![]() The last stage makes a hollow where it feeds, lining it with liquid faecal material, and then pupates. There are three stages lasting 80 to 200 days (depending on quality of the diet), with the third stage up to 100 mm long and 20 mm diameter. The C-shaped larvae or grubs are white then creamy with brown heads (Photo 8). Logs and stumps of many other kinds of trees are also hosts (Photo 7). Oval eggs (3.5 x 4 mm) are laid one at a time, 5-15 cm, below the surface of moist organic materials, such as sawdust, manure, compost and garbage heaps, or above ground in tunnels, debris in axils of coconut fronds, in still-standing but dead and rotten coconut palms, and in the rotten ends of fallen coconut trunks (Photo 6). Holes in the base of the fronds may be obvious when beetle populations are high (Photo 5). When the leaves unfold the damage is seen as V or wedge-shaped areas missing from the leaflets (Photos 1-4). ![]() The adult beetle does the damage, boring into the crown of coconut palms, cutting across young fronds and flowers. Banana, Pandanus, sugarcane and tree fern are also hosts. HostsĬoconut is the most important host, but other palm species are attacked, including betel nut, sago palm and oil palm. South and Southeast Asia, Oceania. American Samoa, Fiji, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Wallis & Futuna. Recently, the beetle has spread to Guam, Hawaii, mainland Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu (under eradicatiion). An artifical breeding site inoculated with spores of Metarhizium anisopliae, in order to infect larvae of the rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros (Fiji). The Department of Interior in July announced that it set aside just over $176,000 to UOG to aid the fight against the coconut rhinoceros beetle.Photo 18. UOG assisted by sending trapping nets to the neighboring island. Thanks to education and outreach on the invasive species, Rota was prepared to trap the beetles and sanitize the area to prevent the spread, Quitugua said. Quitugua said there's a strong possibility that the beetles came from Guam, but scientists will be sending samples off-island to determine whether it's the same biotype. Guam's specific biotype of coconut rhinoceros beetles are known to be difficult to exterminate. The insects have devastated Guam's iconic coconut trees by eating at its core and forming breeding sites within them. Guam has been plagued with the beetles for a decade. "For them, it's not a matter of if something is coming, but when," Quitugua said. Rota and the rest of the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands have been vigilant in watching out for this species, especially since the islands lie close to Guam. ![]() "Because it was found in one small spot, the beetles won't bother Rota," Quitugua said. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on Guam, and UOG for analysis. The invasive species were found Thursday and have since been removed and sent to the U.S. Roland Quitugua, University of Guam extension and outreach agent, said it is Rota's first case of a coconut rhinoceros beetle population on the island. Twenty-four coconut rhinoceros beetles and about 300 beetle larvae have been found near a Rota seaport. Watch Video: Top invasive species of Guam
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