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Trap catches of the coconut rhinoceros beetle Oryctes rhinoceros (L.) (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Dynastinae) in New Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

G. O. Bedford
G. O. Bedford*
Affiliation:
UNDP/FAO Rhinoceros Bettle Project, c/o Kronivia Research Station, Nausori, Fiji
*
*Associated with Biology Department, University of Papua-New Guinea.
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Abstract

The trend in the relative populations of Oryctes rhinoceros (L.) in two areas of the Gazelle Peninsula, New Britain, was studied by trapping adults searching for breeding sites. In a high rainfall area with 10-year-old palms and many possible breeding sites, there was a large initial population of beetles which declined over the next three years with the gradual disappearance of the breeding sites; weekly catches were higher when the undergrowth in the trapping area was slashed, and to some extent also at new moon; catches were depressed by heavy rain. The ♂/♂ sex ratio was 0·31; all females had mated and had mature eggs in the lower ends of the oviducts. These results were compared with those from a low rainfall area with 70-year-old palms and dispersed breeding sites. Catches were generally lower; they showed no long term trend and were not related to slashing or weekly rainfall, but were inversely related to the number of rainy days per week.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 65 , Issue 3 , October 1975 , pp. 443 - 451
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1975

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References

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