Pacific Pests, Pathogens and Weeds

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Summary

• Narrow distribution. Indonesia, Oceania. On taro, seedlings of oil palm and coconut, giant taro, banana, giant swamp taro, sugarcane, Pandanus. An important pest.
• Adult beetles do the damage by boring into the corm. Males are first to arrive awaiting females. After mating, females leave to lay eggs in organic matter.
• Worse where forest disturbed by logging or cyclones.
• Cultural control: destruction of breeding sites suggested, but difficult to find; alternatively, grow a legume cover crops, e.g., Mucuna, Pueraria, Glycine, slash (or use herbicide) to kill it, and then plant taro into the mulch.
• Chemical control: imidacloprid or the pyrethroid cypermethrin at planting, and 3 months.