Current Status of Coconut Chrysomelid beetles in
Malaysia
Mat Hassan Othman & Yusof Othman
Plant Protection
and Plant Quarantine Division,
Malaysian
Department of Agriculture, Kuala
Lumpur
I. Background
The Coconut
industry ranks fifth after oil palm, rubber, paddy, fruits in terms of
hectareage. However, it occupies only 2.4% or 151,044.7 of
6,269,909.9 hectars of the total cultivated land under the main crops in Malaysia. The coconut areas is continually
reduced. It dropped from 213,214.0 hectars
in 1985 to 151,044.7 hectares in 2001.
The principal reasons for the low and drop in hectarages is the low
profitability. Many smallholders have changed over from coconut to oil palm
mainly because of the poor return.
About 69% of
coconut areas are in Peninsular Malaysia, while the rest are in Sarawak (17%)
and Sabah (14%). In Peninsular Malaysia, 70% coconut areas are
located in the coastal region, cultivated chiefly on alluvial soils of the west
coast in Johore, Perak and Selangor and on bris (sandy) soils of the east
coast.
About 92% or
nearly 139,306 ha of coconut area are operated by smallholders. The average
size of holding is about 1.1 ha (Department of Statisctic 1981. Census of
Agriculture). Due to the small size of holdings coupled with low yield and poor
farm management, income received by the
coconut smallholder has been tremendously low, net income about RM 607/year. In
Malaysia,
coconut planted as a monocrop regardless of variety and management practices ia
not profitable enterprise.
II.
Brief Overview of Coconut pests
The coconut palm
is susceptible to the attack of a large number of insects.
In Malaysia,
about 164 insects species, have been associated with coconut palm (Ahmad Yunus
and Ho Thian Hua,1980). At the moment,
however only a few of them are capable
of causing considerable damage to the palm resulting in reduced growth and
yield. These pests include the Rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros Linnaeus), leaf-eating
beetle (Promecotheca cumingi Baly and
Plesispa reichei Chapuis), Artona catoxantha, nettle caterpillars
(Setora
nitens Walker and Thosea sinensis
and Walk), coconut spike moth (Tirathaba
rufivena Walker), coconut skipper (Hidari irama), the Red Palm Weevil (Rhyncophorus scahch Olivier), Parasa lepida Cramer, and coconut bagworms (Cremastopsyche pendula Joannis, Metisa
plana Wlk, Mahasena cobetti Tams).
The Rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros Linnaeus),
leaf-eating beetle (Promecotheca cumingi
Baly and Plesispa reichei Chapuis), Artona catoxantha are the major pests.
Frequent outbreaks of these pests have been reported (tables 2). Widespread outbreaks are rare, but serious
damage has been observed on individual palms and small groups. Generally the outbreaks are localized and
sporadic. In general no control or
minimum controls are instituted when localized outbreaks occurred on mature
palms, but surprisingly the pests normally disappear with time. Weather is one of the regulating
factors. It is generally observed that
most severe infestations become obvious in the dry season, and end with the
onset of a wet season. Besides that,
numerous natural enemies are recorded on various coconut pests and are assumed
to play major role in regulating coconut pests populations.
III.
Leaf-eating beetles
Currently two species
of leaf-eating beetle, Plesispa reichi
and Promecotheca cumugi, belong to the sub-familiy Hispinae of the family
Chrysomelidae are the major pests of palms in Malaysia.
Table 1. List of
common pests of coconut in Malaysia
|
No
|
Pest |
Pest Status
|
Distribution
|
||||||||||
|
Major
|
Minor
|
Wide
spread
|
Limited
|
||||||||||
|
PM
|
SR
|
SA
|
PM
|
SR
|
SA
|
PM
|
SR
|
SA
|
PM
|
SR
|
SA
|
||
|
1
|
Rhinoceros beetle
( Oryctes
rhinoceros L) |
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
Two color coconut
beetle,
(Plesispa
reichei Chapuis) |
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
Coconut leaf moth
(Artona
catoxantha) |
√
|
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
4
|
Coconut leaf
beetle,
Promecotheca
fumingi
Promecotheca nuciferae |
|
√
|
|
√
|
|
√
|
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
5
|
Red stripe weevil,
(Rhynchophorus schach Oliv.) |
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
6
|
Nettle caterpillar,
(
Setora nitens, Thosea sp) |
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
|
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
7
|
Coconut skipper, Hidari irava |
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
8
|
Coconut spike moth, Tirathaba rufivena |
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
9
|
Bagworm, Cremastopsyche pendula,
Metisa
plana Wlk,
Mahasena corbetti Tams |
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
10
|
Coconut scale insect, Aspidiotus destructor |
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
|
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
.
Note: PM – Peninsular Malaysia;
SR – Sarawak; SA - Sabah
