Fwd: [pestnet] Brontispa of coconuts
Hugh Harries
discussions in the Yahoo pestnet group
Forwarded Conversation
Subject: [pestnet] Brontispa of coconuts
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From: grahame jackson <gjac...@zip.com.au>
Reply-To: pes...@yahoogroups.com
To: PestNet <pes...@yahoogroups.com>
Date: 9 October 2007 20:38
Dear All
I have seen several, if not many, newspaper articles from the Philippines
that Brontispa of coconuts is to be brought under control by a black earwig.
Below is an example. This is good news, but I would like to ask about other
natural enemies, Tetrasticgus and Asecodes and the like, that seem to have
done such a good job in the Pacific and elsewhere. Has the Philippines also
introduced these and, if not, why?
Philippines 100T coconut trees now "brontispated"
By Glenrose on Oct 8, 2007 in News
by A.Lumaque
http://visayas.wowphilippines.com/capiz/2007/10/08/philippines-100t-coconut-
trees-now-brontispated/
Roxas City (8 October) ‹ Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) Administrator
Oscar Garin has assured that Brontispa longissima (Gestro) that has been
plaguing nearly 100 thousand of the country¹s more than 300 million coconut
bearing trees will be contained if not eradicated by the end of this year.
Reports indicate that the degree of infestation of the coconut leaf beetle
has reached an alarming stage such that immediate mitigation measures were
undertaken in order to contain the spread of the new malady, said a PCA
online news.
³This destructive pest has infested close to 100,000 coconut trees in 23 out
of 79 provinces of the country. Its spread is threatening the productivity
of the coconut industry in the country,² the news noted.
PCA Administrator Garin¹s two recent communications to President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo, one of which was thru Secretary Arthur C. Yap, explained
that the PCA has been undertaking three types of appropriate measures to
combat the said invasive coconut hispine beetle even with limited financial
resources.
These measures are biological control using an endemic black earwig which
offers natural, sustainable and ultimate solution; mechanical control which
is immediate and direct method of reducing beetle populations; and chemical
control which is massive and an effective remedial measure that will allow
recovery of severely damaged palms.
The Administrator also said that a combination of biological, mechanical and
chemical controls is being applied.
³In fact, more than 32,000 or 33% of the infested trees were already treated
in barely three weeks of operation. The combined strategy is expected to
fully contain the infestation by the end of the year,² the website news
added. (PIA)
________________________________
Grahame Jackson PhD
24 Alt street
Queens Park
NSW 2022
Australia
Phone: 612 9387 8030
Fax: 612 9387 8004
Mobile: 0412 994 206
www.pestnet.org
and
www.terracircle.org.au
From: Wilco Liebregts <ecoco...@connect.com.fj>
Reply-To: pes...@yahoogroups.com
To: pes...@yahoogroups.com
Date: 11 October 2007 23:28
Unlike other countries in SE Asia, the environmental regulations of the
Philippines make the importation of biocontrol agents very difficult -
typically such a process there takes some 3 years, as it requires the
approval from many agencies. Earwigs can help keep beetle populations
low, but as predators they have other source of prey, and their
dispersion rate between trees is low: in Thailand earwigs introduced
into individual trees did control the pest, but one can understand that
it is a very costly and time consuming undertaking, which is also
hampered by the much lower reproduction rate of the earwig. The wasp
Asecodes hispinarum has shown to be the most effective parasitoid to
bring Brontispa under biological control in the humid tropics, often
showing a clear impact well within a year after release.
For the Philippines however it means that the Brontispa outbreak will
therefore continue and increasingly cause serious damage in newly
invaded areas for several more years to come, as has been experienced in
other SE Asian and Pacific countries that the beetle has invaded.
Wilco
Wilco Liebregts
Managing Director
Eco-Consult Pacific Co Ltd
PO Box 5406, Raiwaqa PO
Suva
Fiji Islands
Tel./Fax.: (679) 3322607
http://www.ecoconsultpacific.com