Country: United States

Title: Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros, Scarabaeidae) detected in Hawaii

Contact:
Robert Bailey, National Field Operations Manager, at 970-494-7569 or Deborah McPartlan, National Policy Manager-New Pests, at 301-851-2191

Report: On January 3, 2014, the USDA-ARS Systematic Entomology Laboratory confirmed the detection of a coconut rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros) found in a coconut pest survey trap at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. This detection is a new state record. Since the initial find, surveyors detected additional adults in traps in the same area and identified a breeding site in a compost pile located at a golf course on the base.

The adult stage of coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB) feeds on all ages of palms and damages trees by boring into them for sap. Younger palms are generally more susceptible. Grubs feed on dead and decaying vegetation, primarily coconut material, the preferred host. The favorite habitats for breeding sites are dead standing coconut trees and fallen coconut logs. Besides coconut palm (Cocos nucifera), important hosts of CRB include breadfruit and jackfruit (Artocarpus spp.), mango (Mangifera spp.), pandanus palms (Pandanus spp.), African oil palm (Elaeis spp.), banana (Musa spp.), and sugarcane (Saccharum sp.).

APHIS is coordinating with the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, the University of Hawaii, the U.S. Navy, and the University of Guam to deploy additional delimitation traps, survey for breeding sites, and limit pest spread by eliminating host debris that could be used for feeding and breeding sites.

Under IPPC Standards, Oryctes rhinoceros is considered to be a pest that is transient, actionable, and under eradication in Hawaii of the United States.
 

Posted Date: Feb. 6, 2014, 9 a.m.