They bore through petiole bases into the central unopened leaves.
Tissue maceration and the presence of a fibrous frass inside the feeding hole
Fronds with wedge-shaped gaps or characteristic serrated cut (fan-shaped fronds)
Management
Remove and burn all dead palms in the garden
Collect and destroy the various bio-stages of the beetle from the manure pits (breeding ground of the pest) whenever manure is lifted from the pits.
Set up light traps following the first rains in summer and monsoon 200 period to attract and kill the adult beetles
Set up rhinolure pheromone trap @ 1/ac to trap and kill the beetles
Soak castor cake at 1 kg in 5 l of water in small mud pots and keep them in the oilpalm gardens to attract and kill the adults
For seedlings, apply 3 naphthalene balls/palm weighing 3.5 g each at the base of inter space in leaf sheath in the 3 inner most leaves of the crown once in 45 days
Apply mixture of either neem seed powder + sand (1:2) @150 g per palm or neem seed kernel powder
