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The symptoms made by RPW also have been shown by other coconut pest, such as O. rhinoceros (Coconut rhinoceros beetle). Oryctes rhinoceros adult damage palms by boring into the center of the crown, where they injure the young, growing tissues and feed on the exuded sap. As they bore into the crown, the RPW will use the same hole or crack to deposit the eggs. Once the eggs hatch, the larvae will tunnelling and eat out galleries through the softest tissue, thereby doing a maximum amount of damage, since they destroy the heart of the palm cabbage. Late instar larvae can kill palms by destroying the palm heart (cabbage) (Giblin-Davis & Howard, 1988). Palms are usually asymptomatic until the apical meristem has been damaged. Growing point of damage of palm trees located at the top of a trunk which is hard to detect until it had caused permanent damage. Damage to coconut palm was mainly caused by the larval stage feeding within the cabbage, petiole and trunk of palms. Usually, RPW infest palms below the age of 20 years, where the stem of the young palm is soft, juicy and easily penetrated (Hunsberger et al., 2000). This concealed feeding habit of larvae makes it more difficult to detect infestation at an early stage. Larvae and adults destroy the interior of the palm tree, often without the plant showing signs of deterioration unless damage is severe. Thus, visual examination allows detection of symptoms but cannot determine if there are larvae and adults present inside the coconut palms, making control efforts ineffective (Murphy & Briscoe, 1999). It is hoped that the outcomes from this study will provide important information for the effective formulation to control this invasive coconut pest weevil, so that the necessary measure can be taken to prevent its further spread. An early action is needed to prevent further spread of the pest in other states of the region and to protect the coconut industry in Malaysia.
Acknowledgements We would like to thank to Zazali Chik and his supportive team from the Department of Agriculture of Terengganu State for the field work, Department of Biological Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu for the laboratory facilities and Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia for providing Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (Vote No.: 59219).
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