[?] Makes Strategic

[?]le on Rhino Front

Withdrawal

lEN Rhinoceros beetles were first discovered in

i, Fiji, in 1953, the Govern

t immediately made avail

a large sum for an eradica

campaign. Shortly after, in

Legislative Council of

m-New Guinea, Mr. Don

ett, the then member for the Guinea Islands, used this to flay the P-NG Adminis :>n which in comparison was,

said, sitting with folded

Is doing nothing. P-NG has

inued to do nothing, while

iji they have been very busy

it the final result looks as gh it is going to be the same

Dth countries.

i is becoming reconciled to the mce of the expensive pest ctes Rhinoceros ). now is accepted that the beetle itablished in the large island ti Levu (where coconut planta are limited). Messrs. Maynard trom and W. G. Johnson, fing at a recent -meeting of r iji Coconut Pests and Diseases d. agreed that-it-probably was a mattter of ■ time before the ure gets across to Vanua Levu Taveuni, where most of Fiji’s i is produced. yctes is now in most of the archipelagoes of the Pacific n. He was in none of them 100. ere is little doubt that the e —an active destroyer of rut palms—arrived in Viti Levu either Samoa or Tonga in but its presence was not dis 'ed until March, 1953. icial Fiji then manifested the est alarm. It was found that nsiderable area around Suva— dally to the westward —was ted. The beetle, despite pre ens extending over many years, rently had got ashore from a in Suva harbour, mediately, large numbers of ns, directed by officials of the irtment of Agriculture and the > and Diseases Board, were sent the area, on a hunt for the es -and their larvae and to •oy breeding places; and that has continued for 4i years, t, despite the expenditure of i money and greater effort, the

area of infestation has steadily expanded, until now it covers much of the southeast portion of Viti Levu.

The Fiji Board, in August, decided to reduce the amount of labour employed on the beetle hunt, on the score of economy; and to depend more on scientific control. Every effort will be made to delay the

spread of the beetle to the other Fiji islands: but the history of the pest in the Pacific islands generally indicates that it will cross the straits, sooner or later.

IT had been hoped that a predator, like the Scolia wasp, might be established in Fiji to keep the pest in check; but J.

Linsley Gressitt, in what appears to be the most authoritative recent book on the problem ( The Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle, published by the Bishop Museum, Honolulu, in 1953) says: “Because Oryctes is such a large insect, and is not susceptible to ordinary direct chemical control methods, and because collection of the adult beetles cannot easily be effected where they are feeding and doing their damage to the living palms, biological control is an important consideration. However, no parasite or predator has been

found which satisfactorily controls Oryctes.”

Some good results have been achieved in Mauritius, Zanzibar and, to a lesser extent, in Samoa, with the Scolia wasp from Madagas car; but the wasp does not wipe out the beetle; and, once the beetle is in the vegetation of an island, constant attention to decayed wood, rotting vegetation and other breeding-places, plus the intro duction of any parasites and predators which do attack the larvae, is necessary if the pest is to be kept under control.

In continental areas, the beetle has many natural enemies. But these natural enemies are scarce in the Pacific Islands; and (says Linsley Gressitt) “in Samoa, where natural enemies are similarly scarce, the beetle has done great damage in the 43 years (now 47 years—Ed.) since its introduction; but it probably has not killed more than one eighth of the palms.”

THERE are several other species of rhinoceros beetle in the Pacific Islands; but, although the T ' feed upon the coconut palms and other vegetation, they are not

a serious problem. It is Oryctes (or Asian) variety w is so destructive.

Oryctes now is established ini islands of western Micronesia, Phillipines, New Guinea 0 Britain), Samoa, Tonga and and it is spreading steadily.

It is thought that it may : reached New Britain before war; but it certainly was tl immediately afterwards, and s bet’bve that it was introducec Japanese vessels from the F group, in Micronesia.

Experts say that Oryctes may, be as destructive in New Br as in Fiji and Polynesia, bee New Britain is a “contine island”, where there are i natural enemies to keep it in cl It is interesting to note exactly 20 years ago (August, 1 the following appeared in Pacific Islands Monthly, fror London Times review of T. F Taylor’s book, Biological Contr “Fiji, in particular, has caus be thankful to the entomolo? for they first suppressed a n that was a severe menace to< coconut industry, by introducii flv from Malaya. Then effected permanent control c destructive scale insect, by ir ducing a beetle from Trinidad; now they have controlled the mining beetle by introducing parasite from Java.”

Thus we may be encourage* hope that a really effes biological answer to Oryctes in South Pacific will yet be discow