Damage by Homalinotus depressus in commercial coconut palm crops in the Amazonian region of Brazil

Abstract

The coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L., Arecaceae) has great economic and social importance for many industrial and non-industrial products. Pests can reduce its productivity and cause its death. In 2005, larvae and adults of a Curculionidae were observed damaging the floral stalk of coconut palms in commercial plantations in the municipality of Moju, Pará State, in the Brazilian Amazon. Insects were identified as the black coconut bunch weevil, Homalinotus depressus (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Cholini). This is the first report of this pest damaging coconut palms in Brazil.