Life Cycle

Adult females deposit eggs inside decaying plant material, soil with high organic matter content, and, occasionally, wooden structures. In 11 days, eggs hatch into larvae which begin feeding on organic material. Eleven to 15 weeks later, the larvae will have grown up to 16 times larger and have stopped eating, after which they enter the pupal stage and are immobile for approximately six weeks. Upon emerging, adults fly to a new tree, feed, and mate, sometimes mating just after their first feeding. Adults spend most of their time feeding on fresh leaves. Adult females live up to nine months, over which period they can lay up to 100 eggs. Since coconuts occur in regions where there is no cold season and a minimal dry season, the beetles can be active and reproductive throughout the year.

Nature of Damage

They bore into the crown of the palm resulting in wedge shaped or "V" cuts in the fronds that unfurl. The beetle feeds on tissue juices. Some of the crushed fiber is pushed outside the entrance hole, where it indicates the insect's presence. In India damage of inflorescence is also reported in severely infested areas which cause reduction in yield up to 10%.