The name for these creatures come from the horns they possess.
But these horns are used for destroying the trees and to feed on their sap!
The rhinoceros beetle is a pest species occurring throughout many tropical regions of the world. Adults can cause extensive damage to economically important wild and plantation palms.
Although it is found in several regions of the world, its shape, size, and color are generally consistent. Adult beetles range from 1.2 to 2.5 inches in length and are dark brown or black. The ventral surface (underside) of males and females has reddish-brown hairs, but the female has a fuzzy grouping of these hairs at the tip of the abdomen. Both males and females possess a similarly sized horn used for leverage when moving within tightly-packed leaves or within the cavities, they create in the crown of palms, the horn length is longer on average for males.
Rhinoceros Beetles have two sets of wings and can fly. The outer set of wings protects the real working wings underneath. Because of the horns lightweight and hollow characteristics, it does not interfere with the beetle’s ability to fly.
The rhinoceros beetle’s diet consists mainly of rotting fruits, tree sap, and wood from decaying trees.
Locating them can be difficult due to the beetle’s nocturnal activity and residence within trees. Visual signs such as holes bored at the base of leaves and V-shaped feeding damage help locate this beetle.
Rhinoceros beetles are the strongest animals on the planet, proportionally. They can lift up to 850 times their own weight. To put this into perspective, if a human of average height and weight had the strength of the rhinoceros beetle, it would be able to lift a 65-ton object.
Rhinoceros Beetles can fly strongly and are attracted to lights at night. They are generally noticed when they come to house lights or when they are seen lying beneath street lights and on the concrete tarmacs of petrol stations.
The horns of the males are used for fighting—both over females and for feeding sites on trees, logs, and even crops. The horns are used not to inflict injury but rather to force rivals from the disputed area.
Rhinoceros beetle is mainly a pest of coconut and oil palms.
The beetles’ damage palms by boring into the center of the crown, injuring the young growing tissues and feed on the exuded sap.
As they bore into the crown, they cut through the developing leaves. When the leaves grow out and unfold, the damage appears as V-shaped cuts in the fronds or holes through the midrib.
The nuisance caused by these pests is documented in the below news articles which informs that the commonly used pesticide does not work against them!
Navy battling rhino beetles infestation at Hawaii base
By WYATT OLSON | STARS AND STRIPES Published: October 9, 2014
FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii — There’s a war raging at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, and the Navy is bringing in real firepower.
The enemy is an invasive insect from Southeast Asia called the coconut rhinoceros beetle, whose destructive munching on palm trees has the potential to disrupt coconut and date farming in Hawaii — and in California, if the exotic pest is inadvertently carried to the mainland.
State agencies and the military have spent about $5 million this year to detect and eradicate the beetle, which can grow to 3 inches long and about half that width. The first beetle was discovered in December in a green space on the base that borders Honolulu International Airport.
The Navy’s share of the eradication expenses is about $2 million, according to Tom Clements, a Navy Region Hawaii spokesman.
Meet the beetles: Hawaii mobilizes to fight bug invasion
By Matt Smith, CNN
Updated 1614 GMT (0014 HKT) February 9, 2014
What’s Hawaii without palm trees?
That’s a question the island state hopes it won’t have to answer as it attempts to stave off an invasion by the coconut rhinoceros beetle, an unwanted visitor that’s already done extensive damage on the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.
Big, hungry and hard to kill, the coconut rhino beetle bores into the tops of coconut palms, eating growing tissues, drinking the sap, ripping into the bases of fronds and exposing the plant to disease. Then it crawls off to breed, preferably in piles of mulch or trash. Adults can grow up to two inches long and live to the ripe old age of three months.
“This beetle is really tough, and most of the pesticides that are legal for use in Hawaii do not work on it,” said Darcy Oishi, the state Agriculture Department official in charge of containing the beetle.
In such a situation an effective method is needed which provides protection from the menace caused by the rhino beetle and hence C Tech Corporation has introduced an insect aversive named Combirepel™.
Combirepel™ is an extremely low toxic, non-hazardous, non-mutagenic and non-carcinogenic anti-insect aversive.
Combirepel™ is developed on green technology and chemistry. It is effective against a broad spectrum of insects such as rhino beetle, kudzu bugs, wasps, whiteflies, termites, beetles etc.
Combirepel™ is thermally stable and does not degrade on exposure to heat and sunlight. It does not kill or harm the insect but repels them. It does not volatilize and does not degrade the soil. It is RoHS, RoHS2, ISO, REACH, APVMA, NEA compliant and FIFRA exempted.
Our product works on the mechanism of repellency. It temporarily inhibits the mating cycle of the insects. The product impairs the ability of the insects to reproduce, that is the insects will not lay eggs or the laid eggs will be infertile. The product causes feeding disruption in an insect by triggering an unpleasant reaction within the insect which might try to feed on the application. The product temporarily blocks the reproduction system of the insects by hindering the release of the vital hormones for growth.
Our masterbatch is to be incorporated with polymers while processing them and can be used for producing tree guards, agricultural films, irrigation pipes, polymeric parts for agricultural utilities, etc.
Our liquid concentrate is to be mixed with paints in a proper ratio and can be applied on interior and exterior of houses, offices, schools, areas of mass transits etc. to prevent these pests from residing in these places.
The product available in the form of lacquer can be directly applied to the tree trunks. This will prevent these pests from attacking the trees. The lacquer is compatible with a variety of surfaces like wood, metal, polymer, ceramics, concrete etc.
Use our safe and eco-friendly products to keep the pests in a bay!
Contact us at technical.martketing@ctechcorporation.com to get best solutions for pest nuisance.
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