Association of Rhinoceros Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) with Three Agave Plant Species

DOI

10.2991/absr.k.200513.007How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Agave angustifolia, Agave cantala, Agave sisalana, Rhinoceros beetle

Abstract

Rhinoceros beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) is known as a phytophagous insect found associating with Agave spp. and has the potential to become a pest in crop cultivation. Agave is a fiber-producing plant utilized in natural fiber-based industries. This research was carried out with the aim to determine the effect of rhinoceros beetle infestation associated with three species of agave plants which are accessions from agave germplasm collection of ISFCRI. The study was conducted at Karangploso Research Station, Malang, Indonesia. Observations were made in 2017 on three species of agave plants, namely Agave angustifolia (4 accessions), A. cantala (14 accessions), and A. sisalana (7 accessions). Rhinoceros beetle infested the plant by boring into young leaves that are still rolled up and if it reached the growing point, it could cause the plant to die. Plant damage that occurs in all three agave plant species indicates that rhinoceros beetle infestation occurs in all three species Agave. The beetle preference for A. angustifolia is relatively high compared to the other two species. The high preference for A. angustifolia is presumably due to the high sugar content in plant stems (pina), which is the consumption target of rhinoceros beetle in infesting agave plantations.

Copyright

© 2020, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Sujak
AU  - Dwi Adi Sunarto
AU  - Nurindah
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/05/18
TI  - Association of Rhinoceros Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) with Three Agave Plant Species
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference and the 10th Congress of the Entomological Society of Indonesia (ICCESI 2019)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 41
EP  - 46
SN  - 2468-5747
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/absr.k.200513.007
DO  - 10.2991/absr.k.200513.007
ID  - 2020
ER  -