Description

Adult

Body length of 19-42 mm and a width of 8-16 mm. General colour variable from ferruginous to black. Elytra shiny to dull and slightly pubescent. Blackspots on pronotum variable and can be a red stripe in the black coloured morph. Antennal scrobes deep and broad. Scape longer than furniculus and club together. Furniculus consisting of 6 segments. First abdominal sternite as long as 3rd & 4th combined.

Larvae

Larvae Final instar reaches 36-47 mm in length. Creamy white to ivory in colour and legless. Head capsule is red-brown to brownish-black and body shaped is typically “C” shaped.

Eggs

Whitish-yellow, smooth and shiny, ca. 2.96 x 0.98 mm in size. Laid within holes bored into the trunk by females.

Distribution

Southern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Oceania.

Economic Host(s)

Palms (Arecaceae).

Symptoms/Signs

Larvae feed on internal tissues of the palm. Holes in the trunk and crown may be visible, often with oozingbrown gum. Green leaves begin to droop and yellowing also occurs. The growing point at the top of the canopy becomes distorted and frass and cocoons may be vident at the base of damaged fronds.

Generations:

1-3 (temperature dependent)