Burrowing activity of coconut rhinoceros beetle on Guam cycads.

ABSTRACT: Guam's established population of non-native coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB, Oryctes rhinoceros L.) began creating burrows in stem apices of several cycad species in a managed garden. We conducted an island-wide survey to determine the spatial patterns of CRB burrowing of stems of in situ Cycas micronesica. We also measured starch of healthy and unhealthy coconut leaf tissue and compared this with starch of cycad stem tissue. The starch concentration of the central unexpanded leaf in healthy Philippine coconut trees was ≈90 mg·g^-1, and that of unhealthy Guam coconut trees was ≈40 mg·g^-1. The starch concentration of the tissue within the CRB burrow locations on C. micronesica trees was 145 mg·g^-1. Burrowing of C. micronesica was re

SUBMITTER: Marler TE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7518456 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature