What's eating my taraw palm?

Taraw Palm is a large tropical fan palm from Southeast Asia and South China. Outdoors it is most commonly attacked by scale insects and palm aphids on the foliage, and rhinoceros beetles in the crown in its native range. Grown in containers or a conservatory, spider mites are the primary concern. The tall trunk makes crown monitoring essential.

Armoured or soft scales encrusting petioles, rachis, and leaf undersides; yellowing fronds and sticky honeydew-covered surfaces. Horticultural oil spray on accessible fronds; systemic imidacloprid soil drench for established landscape trees.

Dark, flat colonies on the undersides of new fronds and around the crown; sooty mould follows. Dislodge with water jets; spray insecticidal soap or neem oil. Biocontrol with lacewing larvae in outdoor settings.

V-notch cuts in emerging fronds; bore holes at the crown base; repeated attacks can kill the growing tip. Remove nearby decaying wood (larval breeding habitat). Apply Baculovirus oryctes or entomopathogenic nematodes. Use pheromone traps in the landscape.

Pale stippling across leaflet surfaces with webbing on undersides; foliage looks dusty and bronzed. Increase humidity; apply neem oil or insecticidal soap spray every 7 days, thoroughly covering leaf undersides.