Acharya, G. C.

Chakrabarty, Ranjana

Rabha, Himadri

English

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Rabha et al.258The incidence of red palm weevil (RPW),Rhynchophorus ferrugineus F., in coconutplantations is a worldwide problem causingdevastating damage to the plant and production. Thefirst information on the red palm weevil waspublished in 1891 in Indian museum notes. This wassupplemented by Lefroy (1906). It is a lethal pest ofpalms distributed in diverse ecological habitats andis reported to attack 17 species of palms in nearly30 countries (Faleiro, 2006). RPW is a dreadful pestthat attacks coconut palm in India and manycountries in South and South East Asia (Nair, 2000).This pest is a native of Southern Asia and Melanesialocally called Asian palm weevil (Malumphy andMoran, 2007). The species is highly polyphagous.The pest attacks various palm species such ascoconut (Cocos nucifera), date palm (Phoenixdactylifera), palmyrah palm (Borassus flabellifer),oil palm (Elaeis guinensis), talipot palm (Coryphaumbraculifer), sugar palm (Arenga sacharifera),sedang palm (Livistonia cochinchinensis), etc.(Vidyasagar, 2007). Of late, the pest has shown itspresence in other non-traditional areas of Assam,Meghalaya and Bihar. Survey conducted by CentralPlantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI),Kahikuchi across different districts of Assamrevealed that the incidence of RPW on coconut wasas high as 1.7 per cent in some parts of the state. InIndia, for the first time Dutta et al. (2010) reportedRPW on a new host, arecanut, from Meghalaya state.In Southern India, the pest has been reported to beof minor importance with negligible decrease inarecanut production. The present study is the firstreport of occurrence of red palm weevil on arecanutfrom Assam.New distributional record of red palm weevil, Rhynchophorusferrugineus (Olivier) infesting arecanut in Assam, India(Manuscript Received: 18-12-12, Revised: 08-04-13, Accepted: 02-05-13)Keywords: Arecanut, Assam, red palm weevilAssam is the central part of North East Indiaand extends between the latitudes of 24°8’ N-28°2’N and longitudes of 89°42’E-96°E. Theclimate is warm and humid. The mean maximumtemperature varied between 15-34 °C and the meanminimum temperature ranged from 6-22 °C with arelative humidity of 60-99 per cent. Assam receivestypical monsoon rains, with the south west monsoonduring May-August constitutes about 80 per cent ofthe total rainfall of 2000-2500 mm. The incidenceof RPW was noticed for the first time during May,2008 in bud rot affected arecanut palm. Later theRPW incidence has also been observed in basal stemrot affected arecanut palms. Bud rot and basal stemrot are important diseases of arecanut in Assam andMeghalaya. Survey undertaken by CPCRI,Kahikuchi described the incidence of basal stem rotin arecanut ranged between 20-45 per cent andincidence of bud rot with a range of 5-40 per cent,in different parts of states. Bud rot is more confinedto younger palms (2-10 years) whereas, basal stemrot is comparatively more severe in older palms.Their mode of attack and physical symptoms aredifferent in the case that lower and older leaves showthe symptoms of basal stem rot whereas, the spindleand adjoining leaves show the symptoms of bud rot.The infested palms show signs of wilting, yellowingand drooping of leaves. The crown topples downand emits rotten foul smell. The RPW affected palmshowed the symptom of some small circular holes(sometimes with dried frass) on the stem of bud rotaffected palm with oozing out of brown viscous fluidand this could be seen about 1-3 ft below the crown(Fig. 1). In case of basal stem rot affected palms,circular holes are found near the base of the palmShort  Scientific  Report Journal of Plantation Crops, 2013, 41(2): 258-260Red palm weevil infesting arecanut in Assam259with oozing out of brown viscous fluid. Aftersplitting the symptomatic stem, all the stages ofRPW i.e. eggs, larvae, cocoons and adults, wereobserved within the palm (Fig. 2 A-D). The averageinfestation was recorded to be 0.3-1.3 per cent(n=2790) in the observed experimental plots of thegarden.stem rot affected palm, RPW enter through the basalportion of the palm. On split opening the trunk,zigzag tunnels were seen with full of frass and larvaeof RPW. The eggs, larvae, cocoons and adultscollected from the infested arecanut palms werereared in the laboratory under room temperatureartificially on finely ground arecanut frass forsupplementary information. Fecundity, egg period,egg laying capacity, larval period, pupal period andadult longevity of RPW on arecanut was workedout. The same was compared to the published reportson the bionomics of RPW in coconut. All theseobservations were found to be in line both in coconutand arecanut. Adult lays whitish oblong eggs singlyinside the inner tissues of the palm. The fecundityof single female was ranged between 50-160 eggs.Eggs hatch within 5-7 days. Larval period lasts for60-78 days. Larvae are creamy with dark headmeasuring 3.5-3.8cm in length and are apodous innature (Fig. 3). Fully matured larvae starts pupationby covering itself with fibres of palm (cocoons)which last for 15-18 days. Adult remain inside thecocoon for 8 days and thereafter, they comes out.Adult measures 2.5-3.5 cm (average 3.15 cm) long,1.0-1.5 cm wide and weighed 0.64-1.28 g (average0.94 g). The adult longevity in arecanut was 40-57days. Adults are reddish brown to black in colourwith 2-6 black spots of variable size on the pronotum(Fig. 4). The snout in males (0.6-0.9 cm) appearssmooth and slender with a hairy pad at the apex; infemales the snout (0.7-1 cm) is slightly longerwithout hairy pad.There is no published record of the incidenceof RPW either in arecanut or coconut in this stateFig. 1. RPW affected palmInfestation of RPW was observed in few ofthe basal stem rot affected arecanut palm. In case ofbud rot affected palm, RPW enter through the rottencabbage portion of the palm whereas in the basal Fig. 3. Fully grown larvaFig. 2. Different developmental stages of red palm weevil: (A) Eggs,(B) Larva, (C) Pupa and (D) AdultA) B)C) D)Rabha et al.260Central Plantation Crops Research InstituteResearch Centre, Kahikuchi, Guwahati - 781 017Himadri RabhaRanjana ChakrabartyG.C. Acharya**Corresponding Author: gobinda1971@gmail.comFig. 4. Adult red palm weeviland it is the first record of RPW in Assam onarecanut. As, the pest is mostly seen to attack thepalms already infested with either bud rot or basalstem rot, it is highly pertinent to follow managementpractices against these diseases. Considering the peststatus and the economic loss, adequate managementstrategies with insecticide and phytosanitation aregreatly emphasized for managing the pest includingprophylactic practices of filling the leaf axils withChlory dust mixed with sand. A survey is needed toget information regarding RPW in different locationsof the state and an action is required to prevent thespread of the pest to other areas of states.ReferencesDutta, R., Thakur, N.S.A., Bag, T.K., Anita, N., Chandra,S. andNgachan, S. 2010. New record of red palm weevil,Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)on Arecanut (Areca catechu) from Meghalaya, India.Florida Entomologist 93(3): 446-448.Faleiro, J.R. 2006. Insight into the management of red palmweevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier: Based onexperiences on coconut in India and date palm in SaudiArabia. In: Fundacion Agroalimed (Ed.). I Jornada,Internacional sobre el Picudo Rojo de las Palmeras(November, 2005). Fundacion Agroalimed. Valencia.Spain, pp. 35-57.Lefroy, H.M. 1906. The more important insects injurious toIndian agriculture. Govt. Press, Calcutta.Malumphy, C. and Moran, H. 2007. Red palm weevilRhynchophorus ferrugineus. Plant Pest Notice, CentralScience Laboratory 50: 1-3.Nair, S.S. 2000. Integrated pest management of Red palmweevil- A ubiquitous enemy of coconut. Indian CoconutJournal 31(3): 56-63.Vidyasagar, P.S.P.V. 2007. A brief report on red palm weevilresearch in India. RPW in India. http://www.redpalmweevil.com/RPW Report/India.html.Zhang, R.Z., Ren, L., Sun, J.H., Wu, J. and Zeng, R. 2003.Morphological difference of the coconut pest insect,Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Oliv.) and its relatedspecies (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). China ForestInsect Pests and Diseases 22(2): 3-6.

New distributional record of red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) infesting arecanut in Assam, India

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New distributional record of red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) infesting arecanut in Assam, India

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