Description

Adult

Stout shaped, dark brown to black and shiny. Length of 35-50 mm and a width of 20-23 mm. A prominent horn is present on the head of males and a smaller horn in females. Two tubercules present on the thoracic ridge.

Larvae

Yellowish-white, 60-100 mm in length. Head capsule is medium to dark brown, 10.6-11.4 mm wide with numerous round pits with minute setae. Thoracic spiracles 1.85-2.23 mm long and respiratory plate with a maximum of 40-80 small round to oval holes.

Eggs

White to yellowish-white, 3 mm in diameter and laid inside rotting vegetative matter such as tree stumps and compost heaps. Eggs hatch in ca. 11 days.

Distribution

The Middle East, southern Asia and northern Oceania.

Economic Host(s)

Primarily coconut, date palm and oil palm.

Symptoms/Signs

Adults feed on the crown region of host trees. In oil alms they bore through petiole bases causing tissue aceration. Fibrous frass is present in the feeding galleries and near to the entrances of feeding holes. Fronds of attacked trees often have wedge shaped gaps or characteristic “V” shaped cuts.

Generations:

1