What's eating my rambutan?

Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) is targeted by the rambutan fruit borer and fruit flies, which ruin developing fruit. Stem borers damage trunks, and mealybugs cluster on new growth. Fruit bats, birds, and squirrels raid ripe bunches. The rambutan fruit borer is the most economically damaging pest on commercial and home trees alike.

Larvae tunnel through fruit skin into seeds; pinhole entry with frass; fruit fails to develop Bag fruit bunches before fly egg-laying; destroy infested fruit; apply registered insecticide at fruit set

Oviposition stings on skin; maggots in pulp; fruit rots prematurely Use methyl eugenol bait traps; harvest promptly; remove fallen fruit daily

White waxy colonies on shoots and young foliage; honeydew promotes sooty mold Neem oil spray; introduce parasitic wasps; manage ant populations that protect mealybugs

Girdling tunnels in main trunk or branches; wilting above the wound; frass at entry holes Wire-probe or inject insecticide into tunnels; paint trunks with lime to deter egg-laying