Transcript
Dr Moore says the beetles were first found on Guam in 2007 but their population exploded after a typhoon in 2015 felled many of the coconut trees.
He says this created a perfect feeding environment for immature coconut rhinoceros beetles.
"They feed on dead decaying vegetation that's on the ground and the typhoon knocked down a lot of trees that started to decay. The grubs, the immature beetles, started feeding on this stuff and before long we had thousands and thousands of adult beetles, that's the damaging stage. They fly up into the crowns of the coconut trees, they bore a big hole and if they go to the nerve stem at the very tip of the tree, the tree will die."
Dr Moore says they are now well on the way to destroying over 50 percent of Guam's coconut tree population.
The beetle also presents a problem in other islands.
"This is a Pacific-wide problem. It's a big problem in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and other places. It turns out that all of the new infestations of Rhino Beetle in the Pacific involve this new bio-type, CRBG, and it's totally out of control."
Dr Moore says the beetle population is too far spread for eradication methods like the destruction of breeding grounds or spraying.
"Here on Guam the breeding sites are all over the island, many of them are inaccessible because of the military bases or deep in the jungle. In the old days, I guess the response would be pesticides but we just can't do that kind of thing. We can't spray the whole island these days, it's just not acceptable."
Dr Moore says he is working with New Zealand scientific organisation AgResearch to try and find a virus that can kill the beetle.
However he says they found a virus that had been successful in controlling the rhino beetle elsewhere, was not working in Guam.
AgResearch discovered the Guam beetle was a specific biotype now referred to as 'CRBG.'
Dr Aubrey Moore is now attending a meeting in Australia this week on insect control and hopes a solution can be found.
"This meeting is all about using pathogens for insect control. There will be scientists from all over the world there so we are hoping to learn a lot and also get organised."
The meeting, and a subsequent follow up event, is being organised by AgResearch.
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