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RHINOCEROS BEETLE Oryctes rhinoceros (L.) --
Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae (Contacts) ----- CLICK on Photo to enlarge &
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This scarab was a major pest of coconuts throughout southern Asia for
many years and became a potentially devastating pest of young oil palms (Wood
1969a). Palms in replantings were
especially at risk because the decaying logs of a former stand of oil palms,
rubber or coconuts provide breeding grounds for the larvae, which develop in
rotting organic materials. The
beetles attack the heart of the palm, boring at the base of unopened leaves,
or spears, so that newly emerging leaves are broken off, truncated or
distorted. Pathogenic organisms may
enter the lesions, leading to long periods of distorted leaf production or
death of young palms. Insecticidal
control is not very effective, and can lead de outbreaks of leaf-eating
caterpillars. Control was attempted
by breaking up the breeding grounds and removing developing stages (Wood
1968). This procedure proved very
expensive but not highly effective.
Wood (1969a) reported that a series of experiments was commenced in
1962 to investigate the possibility of rendering the rotting tissues of a
former stand unusable by the beetle, of speeding up the rotting away of logs
or of destroying them completely at replanting. Planters had for long held that a heavy cover of ground
vegetation was associated with reduced attack by the beetles, and this agreed
with observations in coconuts in the South Pacific (Owen 1959, Wood 1969b) Ground cover in
young oil palm plantings may be either a natural cover, comprising self
perpetuating species of grasses, ferns and creepers, or a planted leguminous
cover. The trials confirmed that
under heavy cover there was substantially less breeding of beetles (Wood
1969a). Cover works against the
adult's searching for a feeding site since very intensive inspections of
rotting logs ruled out the possibility that the effect was due to a greater
number of beetles developing on the bare ground. The way in which the cover works is not certain, but it seems
possible that it impedes the flight or movement on the ground of the adult
beetle. The most extensive
program for biological control of the rhinoceros beetle was in Fiji where the
pest was first found in 1953 and extended from 1954 to the 1960's. Although numerous natural enemies were
imported, only Scolia ruficornis F. became
established (Clausen 1978). The
shipments from the Palau Islands consisted of 232 cocoons, the adults from
which were utilized for propagation.
The 428 cocoons thus obtained were placed in the field (Simmonds
1961). Other parasitoids and
predators were introduced in other areas. Considering the
amount of effort that was devoted to this project, the results were
disappointing. Scolia ruficornis
was most widely distributed and established, but only in a few areas has it
been reported to have any appreciable influence on the pest populations. Parasitization of up to 30% was attained
in Samoa and it is believed that many groups are destroyed through stinging
by the parasitoid, but not followed by oviposition. However, population levels vary widely over the infested area
(Hoyt & Catley 1967). Wilson
(1960) reported that the degree of control attained in New Britain has been
sufficient to permit replanting of the plantations, but distribution and
effectiveness are not general in the area.
Considerable attention was devoted to various pathogens (Surany 1960,
Huger 1966, Zelazny 1972, 1973), which has resulted in a virus disease
causing control when management of orchards is conducive to its
perpetuation. One in particular, the
"Malaya disease",Rhabdionvirus
oryctes, affects both
larvae, which soon die, and adults, and transmission is by ingestion or by
contact. Infected adults stop feeding
and egg laying, but can still spread the virus. Infection and establishment is easy (Bedford 1971), but the
beetle seems to have reached many Pacific Islands without the virus, and when
introduced in Samoa the disease led to marked reduction in damage (Marschall
1970>. Introductions to other
islands have reduced attack from very high levels (Young 1974, Bedford 1971)
and incidence now resembles the more tolerable situation in areas where the
virus has been long established (Bennett et al. 1976). For additional
information on biological control effort and host and natural enemy
biologies, please see the following (Anonymous 1940, Simmonds 1941, 1949,
1953, 1961; Gardner 1953, Gressitt 1953, O'Connor 1953, 1960; Pemberton 1954,
Dun 1955, Cumber 1957, Vanderplank 1958, Orian 1959, Wilson 1960, Hurpin
1966). REFERENCES: [Additional references may be found at: MELVYL
Library ] Anonymous. 1940. Summary of a report on a recent mission of
Mr. H. W. Simmonds to Java, Malaya, Mauritius and Madagascar. Fiji. Isl. Dept. Agric., Agric. J. 11: 21. Bedford, G. O. 1971. Virus release programme in Fiji. Report of the Project Manager for the Period
June 1970 - May 1971, p. 234-239.
South Pacific Comm., Noumea, New Caledonia. Bennett, F. D., D. Rosen, P. Cochereau & B. J. Wood. 1976.
Pests of tropical fruits and nuts.
In: C. B. Huffaker & P. S. Messenger (eds.),
Theory and Practice of Biological Control.
Academic Press, New York. 788 p. Clausen, C. P. Scarabaeidae. In: C. P. Clausen (ed.), Introduced Parasites
and Predators of Arthropod Pests and Weeds.
U. S. Dept. Agric, Agric. Handbk. No 480. 545 p. Cumber, R. A. 1957. Ecological studies of the rhinoceros
beetle Oryctes rhinoceros (L.) in Western
Samoa. So. Pacific Comm., Tech. Paper
107. 32 p. Dun, G. S. 1955. Economic entomology in Papua and New
Guinea 1948-1954. Papua New Guinea
Agric. J. 9: 109-19. Gardner, T. R. 1953. The rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros L.) situation in the Palau Islands and the
introduction of two scoliid parasites to combat this pest. &th Pacific Sci. Cong. Proc. (1953)
4: 229-32. Gressitt, J. L. 1953. The coconut rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros) with particular reference to the Palau
Islands. Bernice P. Bishop Mus. Bull.
212. 157 p. Hoyt, C. P. 1963. Investigations of rhinoceros beetles in
West Africa. Pacific Sci. 17: 444-51. Hoyt, C. P. & A. Catley.
1967. Current research on the
biological control of Oryctes
(Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae).
Mushi 39: 3-8. Huger, A. M. 1966. A virus disease of the Indian rhinoceros
beetle Oryctes rhinoceros (L.) caused by a new
type of insect virus, Rhabdionvirus
oryctes gen. n., sp. n. J. Invertebr. Path. 8: 38-51. Hurpin, B. 1966. Resultats et perspectives de la lutte
biologique contre les Oryctes. Oleagineux. 21: 77-82. Marschall, K. J.
1970. Introduction of a new
virus disease of the coconut rhinoceros beetle in Western Samoa. Nature (London) 225: 288-89. O'Connor, B. A.
1953. The rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros L.) in Fiji.
Fiji Dept. Agric., Agric. J. 24:
35-46. O'Connor, B. A.
1960. A decade of biological
control work in Fiji. Fiji Dept.
Agric., Agric. J. 30: 44-54. Orian, A. J. E.
1959. Report on a visit to
Diego Garcia. Rev. Agric. Sucr.
Maurice 38: 127-43. Owen, R. P. 1959. Proposals for vegetative barrier
experiments. South Pacific Comm. Trust
Territory of the Pacific Islands, Koror, Caroline Islands. p. 1-3. Pemberton, C. E.
1954. Invertebrate consultants
committee for the Pacific, report for 1949-1954. Natl. Acad. Sci.-Natl. Res. Council Pacific Sci. Board. 56 p. Simmonds, H. W. 1941. Biological control of the rhinoceros
beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros L.), 1939. Fiji Dept. Agric. Bull. 21. 30 p. Simmonds, H. W.
1949. On the introduction of Scolia ruficornis F., into Western Samoa for control of Oryctes rhinoceros L.
Bull. Ent. Res. 40: 445-46. Simmonds, H. W.
1953. The rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros.
Certain factors which may tend to inhibit its increase or check its
spread in Fiji. Fiji Dept. Agric.,
Agric. J. 24: 89-92. Simmonds, H. W.
1961. A short history of Scolia ruficornis, parasite of Oryctes spp. Fiji
Dept. Agric., Agric. J. 31: 36-8. Surany, P. 1960. Diseases and
biological control in rhinoceros beetles.
South Pacific Comm., Noumea, Tech. Paper No. 128. 62 p. Vanderplank, F. L. 1958.
The assassin
bug, Platymerus rhadamanthus Cerst. (Hemiptera,
Reduviidae), a useful predator of the rhinoceros beetle Oryctes boas
(F.) and Oryctes monoceros (Oliv.) (Coleoptera:
Scarabaeidae). J. Ent. South Africa 21: 309-14. Wilson, F. 1960. A review of the biological control of
insects and weeds in Australia and Australian New Guinea. Commonwealth Inst. Biol. Control, Tech.
Commun. 1. 102 p. Wood, B. J. 1969a. Development of integrated control programs
for pests of tropical perennial crops in Malaysia. In: C. B. Huffaker (ed.), Biological
Control. Plenum / Rosetta Press, New
York. 511 p. Wood, B. J. 1969b. Studies on the effect of ground vegetation
on infestations of Oryctes rhinoceros (L.) (Col.,
Dynastidae) in young oil palm replantings in Malaysia. Bull. Ent. Res. 59: 85-96. Young, E. C. 1974. The epizootiology of two pathogens of the
coconut palm rhinoceros beetle. J.
Invert. Path. 24: 82-92. Zelazny, B. 1971. Report of the project manager for the
period June 1970 - May 1971, p. 42-131.
South Pacific Comm., Noumea, New Caledonia. Zelazny, B. 1972. Studies on Rhabdionvirus oryctes. I.
Effect on larvae of Oryctes
rhinoceros and inactivation
of the virus. J. Invert. Path.
10: 235-41. Zelazny, B. 1973. Studies on Rhabdionvirus oryctes. II.
Effect on adults of Oryctes
rhinoceros. J. Invert. Path. 22: 122-26. |