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Coconut rhinoceros beetle6/20/2023 Flame Tree Loopers (Figure 2) were first reported on Guam in 1971. He Flame Tree Looper ( Pericyma cruegeri) is a moth found in Southeast Asia, Australia and several Pacific Islands in the tropical and subtropical zones. The moths are preserved in 100% ethanol, which has changed its natural color. After feeding for 60 days, the grubs metamorphoses into a pupa, and develops for up to one month before emerging as an adult beetle. The eggs hatch into grubs which feed on the decaying plant matter. After breeding is complete, the female lays her eggs in dead standing coconut trees or in piles of decaying organic matter. After feeding on sap, the beetles search for a suitable breeding ground. CRB horns are used for leverage and for burrowing into coconut palm crowns.ĬRBs feed on the sweet sap in the heart of the palm. Adult male beetle horn size is occasionally longer than that of the adult female. The tip of the abdomen of an adult female has brown hairs which the males do not possess. Adult male and female beetles can be easily distinguished by identifying their abdomens and the size of their single predominant horn. The adult beetles range from 3.0 to 6.3 centimeters long and are either black or brown, with a prominent horn on their head. The larvae body forms a C shape with three pairs of segmented legs on both sides of the body. The larvae (called “grubs”) resemble large, fat, white worms that range up to 10 centimeters long and are found in shallow soil. The CRB goes through a complete life cycle from an egg to larvae to pupa and then to an adult (Figure 1). CRB lifecycle showing each timespan from egg to adult stage Ongoing research at the University of Guam in collaboration with international partners work towards a viable biocontrol option.įigure 1. Current work has removed CRB breeding sites, over 200 dead standing coconut, other palm trees and green waste piles, around the ports of entry and surrounding loading areas. Won Pat International Airport Authority Guam. The Department of Agriculture, Biosecurity Division manages CRB pheromone traps around Guam’s major ports of entry, the Port Authority of Guam (commercial seaport) and the A.B. More recently in 2017, CRB was discovered in Rota, the southernmost island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The infestation in Hawaii was found in 2013 along a runway at Hickam Air Force Base. CRB-G has made its way onto other islands in the region, Hawaii and Rota. CRB on Guam has been identified to be a unique biotype (renamed CRB-G) resistant to traditional viral biological control agents.Įradication is now unlikely in 2021 and long-term pest management is needed to prevent CRB from moving to neighboring islands. The destruction of Typhoon Dolphin in 2015 created an unmanageable amount of green waste left to accumulate and decay.This provided suitable breeding grounds for the beetles to reproduce, flourish and establish a growing population. In 2007, the beetles were first identified in the village of Tumon. The coconut rhinoceros beetle ( Oryctes rhinoceros or CRB) is native to Asia, from India to Indonesia. The following highlights the lesser known insect species that have created some of the worst environmental and economic impacts on Guam. Perhaps if the native forest bird population was still thriving on Guam, the insect population would be better controlled. Guam has become infamous since the accidental introduction of the brown treesnake in the 1940s led to the decimation of the native bird population. Global commerce and travel enable people and cargo to cross these great distances on ships and planes, often taking hitchhikers on the journey. In the distant past, vast mountains and oceans proved sufficient to prevent the migration of even the hardiest of species. Islands are more susceptible to invasive species than larger land masses because island ecosystems evolved in relative geographic isolation. introduction causes, or is likely to cause, economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration.“Invasive” organisms are defined by the United States Department of Agriculture, under Executive Order No.
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