Orchid weevil, the most damaging pest in Indonesia

[ALToronto]

Beautiful photos! And look at all those sun-bleached yellow leaves - doesn't seem to bother the plants, though. So is yellowish leaf colour from too much light really a bad thing?

 

[NYEric]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[eggshells]

ramadayapati, Thanks for posting some photos. Really helpful to others.

Can you post some sangii in situ please. Thanks!

 

[abax]

Interesting that Orthene works on Paphs. and not on Dendrobiums. I
use 1 tsp. per gallon of water and drench the growing medium to the
dripping point and it always works on everything I grow. I don't grow
Dens. though.

 

[ramadayapati]

ramadayapati, Thanks for posting some photos. Really helpful to others.

Can you post some sangii in situ please. Thanks!

To be honest,
I didnt spot many Paphs in the wild during exploration. Only Paph. javanicum, Paph. glaucophyllum, Paph. lowii, Paph. bullenianum var. celebesense, Paph. glanduliferum, Paph. primulinum and several others. Will post some pics later soon

 

[ramadayapati]

Interesting that Orthene works on Paphs. and not on Dendrobiums. I
use 1 tsp. per gallon of water and drench the growing medium to the
dripping point and it always works on everything I grow. I don't grow
Dens. though.

Yeah i guess its hard to penetrate 4-5 cm thick of Dendrobium pseudobulbs. I've tried to inject the insecticide by needle and spuit with no luck (

 

[ramadayapati]

Beautiful photos! And look at all those sun-bleached yellow leaves - doesn't seem to bother the plants, though. So is yellowish leaf colour from too much light really a bad thing?

Some orchids really could adapt to it, so a a bit purplish or yellowish scorch shouldnt be a major problem thou., then u decide after..

 

[lepetitmartien]

Thanks for knowledge, i've been working with palm fruit production and breeding as well especially in Salacca spp.. We've been concerning for the palm weevil attack lately. Do you know if there's any specific nematodes for them?

The species attacked in the South of Europe (France, Spain, Monaco, Greece, Italy…) by Rhynchophorus ferrugineus are:
Areca catechu, Arenga pinnata, Borassus flabellifer, Brahea armata, Butia capitata, Calamus merillii, Caryota maxima, Caryota cumingii, Chamaerops humilis, Cocos nucifera, Corypha gebanga, Corypha elata, Elaeis guineensis, Livistona australis, Livistona decipiens, Metroxylon sagu, Oreodoxa regia, Phoenix canariensis, Phoenix dactylifera, Phoenix theophrasti, Phoenix sylvestris, Sabal umbraculifera, Trachycarpus fortunei, Washingtonia spp.

Besides the weevil, there's Paysandisia archon, a moth, also at work.

Known to work:
- chemicals: Imidacloprid with an additive, it's used in Spain. I don't know which additive. And there's no chemical alternative so a decent strategy to counter resistance effects. Maybe there's something to find there, but I don't speak Spanish.
- organic:
• A fungus, Beauveria bassiana, works against the weevil larvae and the moth caterpillar.
• A nematod, Steinernema carpocapsae, works against the weevil and the moth. Used once a month.
Note that I found that the organic fight works but not 100%, just like Imidacloprid without the additive.
• pheromons to catch and kill the males weevils, stopping or slowing reproduction.

Note you can eat the larvae (not after chemicals…) they are eaten in Papua New Guinea by kids.

For the orchid weevil, Bacillus thuringiensis seems quite works for now but still hard to penetrate to the larvae from thick Dendrobium tissues

Do you know the specific type? There's varietas in Bt which are very specific to one pest. It'd be good to have an alternative to fight in complements.

There's no resistance usually to Bt toxins, though now the stupid GMO with Bt toxins production do generate resistance… (sigh)

There's an organic mean against insect boring holes into wood. Maybe it could be tried: with a syringe, inject a mix of essential oil of hot pepper or camphor, and half of oil (neem, or any local edible clear oil - an equivalent to rapeseed oil, olive oil) with a drop of safe soap to emulsify.