Field Identification
A giant red-brown palm borer invasive in many palm-growing regions; larvae hollow the apical meristem until the crown folds like a failed umbrella. Pheromone trapping is central to area-wide programs.
Adults are rusty red with an elongated snout; larvae are legless grubs packed in frass-filled galleries. Often first detected by oozing holes and chewed fibers at crown base.
How to Deal With It
Organic Control Methods
Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium applied as crown drenches or sprays in repeated campaigns; chitosan and other biofilm disruptors show promise in trials—pair with sanitation.
Egg parasitoids (e.g., hymenopteran specialists) used in classical programs overseas; woodpeckers and ants incidentally reduce life stages.
Remove and destroy infested palms; avoid leaving cut stumps as brood sites; quarantine nursery material from infested regions.
Pheromone trapping for male mass capture; acoustic probes to locate active larvae before crown failure.
Strict palm quarantine and inspection; public reporting of suspect palms; zero tolerance for off-movement of untreated chips.
Let Nature Handle It
Natural Enemies
- Scelionid egg parasitoids
- Beauveria bassiana
- Metarhizium spp.
Threat Map