Asiatic rhinoceros beetle

The Asiatic rhinoceros beetle, coconut rhinoceros beetle or coconut palm rhinoceros beetle,[2][3] (Oryctes rhinoceros) is a species of rhinoceros beetle of the family Scarabaeidae. O. rhinoceros attacks the developing fronds of raffia,[4] coconut, oil, and other palms in tropical Asia and a number of Pacific islands. Damaged fronds show typical triangular cuts. The beetle kills the palms (particularly newly planted ones) when the growing point is destroyed during feeding. The larvae do not damage crops, but instead grow in dead, decaying trunks and other organic matter.[5]

Asiatic rhinoceros beetle
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Superfamily: Scarabaeoidea
Family: Scarabaeidae
Subfamily: Dynastinae
Genus: Oryctes
Species:
O. rhinoceros
Binomial name
Oryctes rhinoceros
Synonyms [1]

Scarabaeus rhinoceros Linnaeus, 1758

In 1964, accidental introduction in some countries, and the perceived threat led to a special United Nations fund being established through the South Pacific Forum, with the goal of "eradication of the rhinoceros beetle and related insects in the South Pacific". Contributors to the fund were Australia, France, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Western Samoa.[6]

Control measures include the use of cultural methods, such as crop sanitation and the use of cover crops, pheromones, together with biological controls such as the manipulation of Metarhizium majus

The beetle is an invasive species in Hawaii, where it was found on December 23, 2013. It is believed to have been brought there in air cargo.[7]

See also

References
  1. Lars Wallin (February 14, 2001). "Catalogue of type specimens. 4. Linnaean specimens" (PDF). Uppsala University. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  2. Oryctes rhinoceros (insect)
  3. Oryctes rhinoceros
  4. http://uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Raphia_farinifera_(PROTA)
  5. http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/adap/ASCC_LandGrant/Dr_Brooks/BrochureNo8.pdf
  6. "Agreement between the Government of Australia and the United Nations Special Fund concerning Assistance from the Special Fund for a Project of Research on the Control of the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle ATS 18 of 1964”. Australasian Legal Information Institute, Australian Treaties Library. Retrieved on 15 April 2017.
  7. Lin, Sara (24 January 2015). "Hawaii hopes to fend off invasion by coconut rhinoceros beetle". LA Times. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
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