01 June, 2005 Tuaran: Coconuts and oil palm at the Sabah AgriculturalPark in Tenom are among those attacked by the Asiatic Rhinoceros beetle,causing extensive damage and their proliferation lately has beenattributed to decades of logging which has left tonnes of wood rotting inthe forests, among others.

Agriculture Research Centre Tuaran Entomologist I, Jinius Jipanin, saidrecent inspections on several smallholdings planted with oil palm betweenone and five years old in Tenom revealed the infestation.

He said developing oil palm plantations in the Interior namely in Tenom,Keningau and Nabawan areas have also not been spared from beetle attack.

During inspections, officers saw coconut palms in the Tenom ResearchStation showing fan-shaped cut fronds, which is one of rhino beetleinfestation symptoms.

"A severe repeated infestation is clearly seen through a degenerated palmcrown and ornamental palms," he said.

Jipanin said there are several recognisable symptoms of rhino beetleattack on the palms' canopy namely:

* Unopened spear dieback or snapping

* Cluster of chewed materials close to the frond base

* Oval shaped bore holes on the rachis and/or petiole of fronds

* Snapping of newly opened fronds especially in mature palms

* Little leaf complex from palms recovering from severe attack

He said Rhinoceros beetle or Oryctes Rhinoceros has been identified as themost serious pest that attacks oil palm and coconut especially in youngpalms.

"The damage due to beetle attack may also considerably affect the yieldper tree," he said.

According to him, adult beetles feed on the sweet, succulent developingpalm frond by burrowing through the young frond base or even passdownwards through a spear leaf, which frequently collapsed.

He said damage occur to the epical bud tissues either directly through thefeeding activities of the beetles or through by providing courts of entryfor bud rotting microorganism.

In many cases, repeated attacks might lead to palms being killed while inmoderate attacks may lead to severe retardation and result in yield loss.

He said that up to 25 per cent reduction in crop yield in the first twoyears has been reported.

"Unless control measures are done immediately and effectively, it willadversely affect the development of oil palm in Tenom and neighbouringdistricts," he said.

The Asiatic Rhinoceros beetle is one of the largest living insects and iscommonly found in tropical Asia-Pacific regions.

It takes between 117 to 287 days for a beetle to complete its life cyclestarting from egg to adult.

Normally, the female beetle lays their eggs on rotting plant materialsheap such as tree stumps, logs and also animal (cattle and horses) dung inwhich the egg hatch into larva after 10 to 18 days.

A newly hatched larva (scarabaeiform) is about 7mm long and feeds onrotting organic matter.

Jipanin said a fully developed larva could grow up to 60 and 75mm longbetween 77 and 212 days and soon develop into a pupa inside a cocoon.

"The pupal stage takes about one to two months before the adult emerges,which is about 40mm long with blackish dorsal and brownish ventral partsof the body," he said.