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Oil Palm Pest

The oil palm in Malaysia remains prone to threats by a variety of several key insect pests such as bagworm, nettle caterpillar, rhinoceros beetle, termite, bunch moth and rats.

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Insect Pest

Bunch Moth

Ecology

The life cycle consists of five larval stages, where each stage is differentiated by size and body length. The adult wingspan size is about 26-30 mm. Their hindwings colour is plain pale yellow or orange-yellow. The larvae are the destructive stage, damaging the inflorescences and the developing fruitlets of young bunches.

Adult Tirathaba spp
Larvae stage

Causal

Conducive areas of growth: Areas with unharvested ripe bunches and have limited natural enemies.


Symptoms

Infestation is characterised by the presence of a long tube of silk and frass in the bunch, which are reddish when fresh and brownish-black when old. On developing bunches, the larvae feed and scrap on the fruitlets and later boring holes in the mesocarp up to the kernel, creating hollow-centred oil palm fruit.

Hollow-centred oil palm fruit
Bunch damage due to bunch moth

Control

Biological control

The applications of microbe-based biopesticides (Bacillus thuringiensis, Metarhizium spp. Beauveria bassiana) are recommended in controlling the larval population of Tirathaba. It is proven to be as effective as chemical insecticides and also poses minimal risks to non-target organisms. The application of endoparasitic nematodes, predators, parasitoids is a potential control method of the pest.

 Chemical control

Application of the following chemical insecticides was proven to be able to control the larval population of Tirathaba. However, careful application of broad-spectrum insecticides such as Fipronil and cypermethrin is essential to preserve the population of the non-target insects in the field (e.g.: pollinators and predators/ parasitoids).

  • Chlorantraniliprole
  • Flubendiamide
  • Fipronil
  • Cypermethrin

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Oil palm is the major commodity crop for Malaysia. It is important to ensure its sustainability by improving yield as well as protecting the crop from pest and diseases.

The implementation of The Malaysian Oil Palm Industry Biosecurity Plan will be our first step in protecting and preventing invasive pests, diseases or weeds from entering our country, thus securing the future of the oil palm industry in Malaysia.

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