Accused Palm Killer Photos Within

[Cindy Adair]

I thank you so much Ed for responding so quickly to me in several private messages and also for posting here.

I had already applied the Bayer imidocloprid granules product very reluctantly just to the clearly attacked plants.

I am caring for a critically ill friend so no time to flush all the holes (and my hoses won’t reach) or even apply other products so maybe my beneficial insects are still safe.

I’ll check back in when I can.

 

[Ed Askew]

So you probably have different bugs than we do.  I have found that a very important scale predator for us is the twice stabbed lady beetle.  It’s black and the adults have two red spots on their back.  The various immature forms have all sorts of different looks.  They can be tiny.  Anyway, if it were me, next year when the imidacloprid is hopefully gone, I might poke around a plant that has a lot of half eaten scale on it and try to collect some of those and put them on my palms.  They would likely bug off immediately though.  It’s amazing how much scale they can eat.  You will only see them early in the morning.  Unfortunately no one can figure out how to grow them commercially.

[Cindy Adair]

Today I saw that one of my Pelagodoxas was looking extra nice.

Just as I snapped a distance photo (as it's in a hard to reach spot) I also saw the beetle hole at the base and some exposed roots.  

It's not easy but I got a long hose to this area and flushed the cavity.  Didn't see a beetle and I was tired so planned to try again tomorrow. 

Now it is pitch dark and no way to get to that spot until dawn. And Dawn detergent is what I forgot! Happily I left the hose end nearby and will do better tomorrow.

I read this topic again just now, remembering too late the detergent, with all the excellent ideas plus my plans to do better this year.  Even without COVID19, let's just say that 2020 has not been my favorite year so far so I have not protected all my smaller palms as I had planned.

The good news is that more palms survive than are killed it seems.

[Really full garden]

8 minutes ago, Cindy Adair said:

Today I saw that one of my Pelagodoxas was looking extra nice.

Just as I snapped a distance photo (as it's in a hard to reach spot) I also saw the beetle hole at the base and some exposed roots.  

It's not easy but I got a long hose to this area and flushed the cavity.  Didn't see a beetle and I was tired so planned to try again tomorrow. 

Now it is pitch dark and no way to get to that spot until dawn. And Dawn detergent is what I forgot! Happily I left the hose end nearby and will do better tomorrow.

I read this topic again just now, remembering too late the detergent, with all the excellent ideas plus my plans to do better this year.  Even without COVID19, let's just say that 2020 has not been my favorite year so far so I have not protected all my smaller palms as I had planned.

The good news is that more palms survive than are killed it seems.

Cindy I am always amused to read comments that it must be so easy to grow palms in the tropics. There are so many pests that are constantly just waiting to destroy your palms. It is an almost never ending battle. I always plant 3-4 of the same species and just pray one makes it to maturity.

[Cindy Adair]

I am learning this hard lesson. FYI today I used Dawn detergent and flooded the cavity again. I kept checking but did not see any beetles. Perhaps they were discouraged by the water last night. I placed a hard ball of dirt over the entrance and will see if it is disturbed later.

[DoomsDave]

@Cindy Adair, ouch so sorry to hear.

I suspect you've already used this, but if not . . .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_thuringiensis

BT as it's called kills caterpillars, too. It's natural and doesn't hurt anything except the insects.

The very best thing would be to introduce something like a parasitic wasp, which will find and kill the beetle larvae for you. While it won't eliminate them, it might drastically reduce the carnage.

Do, please keep us apprised.

[Cindy Adair]

Thanks for your idea Dave. My guess is that might help in smaller yards. I just read that leaving a light on outside might attract them and then predators might feast.

No street lights near me, but glad to try leaving a light or two around my porch on tonight with some soapy water underneath too.

I am still reading all the options for barrier methods too. I did put some marble chips (around one inch size) around last year’s victims and not sure if they have been hit again. 

Clearly I need to do this more scientifically and take notes but the last 12 months have not been the best for this. 

[Cindy Adair]

I was not impressed with this article that says this beetle does no harm!

https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/beneficials/beneficial-44_ox_or_elephant_beetle.htm

[Swolte]

This thread is very helpful!! We're battling them too here in Texas. I was wondering about the metal mesh idea (see the other thread I bumped) and whether folks had any luck with it. I guess some durable plastic may be even better as it doesn't rust and can be more flexible?

Edited June 12, 2020 by Swolte

[Cindy Adair]

I too would greatly appreciate  more report’s from others.

John Dransfield indicated that information on the beetle issues and palms could make a good article for PALMS as the editors are unfamiliar with this threat.

Out of urgency I am applying imidocloprid now, but would much prefer a barrier method.  

I have some ideas for prototype barriers especially to use at planting time on palms not yet trunking.

Once I can access a newly opened big box store (without literally hours in a line due to COVID restrictions) I will see what is available and try it out.

Thanks so much for bumping both of these beetle topics Swolte. So sorry you are having the same issues!

Something heavy like lots of rocks (even if effective) is daunting for me to carry to all the steep hillside locations of my young palms. And the rocks tend to roll away.

At least no gophers in Puerto Rico!

 

[Fusca]

2 hours ago, Cindy Adair said:

I too would greatly appreciate  more report’s from others.

John Dransfield indicated that information on the beetle issues and palms could make a good article for PALMS as the editors are unfamiliar with this threat.

Out of urgency I am applying imidocloprid now, but would much prefer a barrier method.  

I have some ideas for prototype barriers especially to use at planting time on palms not yet trunking.

Once I can access a newly opened big box store (without literally hours in a line due to COVID restrictions) I will see what is available and try it out.

Thanks so much for bumping both of these beetle topics Swolte. So sorry you are having the same issues!

Something heavy like lots of rocks (even if effective) is daunting for me to carry to all the steep hillside locations of my young palms. And the rocks tend to roll away.

At least no gophers in Puerto Rico!

 

Cindy, @Swolte I lost a juvenile Livistona decora last summer and tried rocks around the palms (which are plentiful in the ground here).  The metal mesh idea looks promising but hoping for the best.  The only issue that I've had so far is neighbor's cat keeps moving the smaller rocks and digging out the mulch.    I too am interested to hear about others successes and failures.  Hopefully we can come out successful!

[Ed Askew]

So far I have killed 10 beetles this year, all males.  I have found that to save the palm you have to get the male out, and usually the first one to come out is female.  So far this year no females which is strange.  Several holes had 2 males in them, which isn't that unusual.  I've been growing my own sabal palms from seed, the ones I have right now are S. palmetto.  They're in 5 gallon pots, I had 80 at one point,  and I replaced the palms that died last year from beetle attacks in February with some of those, and have planted about 10 more.  So they've already hit 4 or 5 of the new palms so far.  I have a weed palm growing right next to my driveway that I killed by painting the spear leaf with 100% roundup, but most of it is still green and they hit it.  I have flushed a couple beetles out of the same hole on different day, and I just leave that hole open.  It functions as sort of a trap. I did that last year and killed quite a few that way.  I have probably over 100 weed palms, and I look for holes everyday and I'll do the same with others when I find them.  The other holes this year in the palms I planted I have been filling in with sand, which I rinse down the hole, and once I get within 3 inches to the top, I pack it in good with a stick and fill the rest with crushed limestone and sand together.  So far, I haven't had them re-open a hole, but usually they do re-open them.  Last year my wife and I killed more than 20 beetles, and it seems to me it was 28 we counted and I think they killed 3 or 4 palms.  So we're just getting started this year.  I have found that landscape fabric will not work to keep them out, and also I had a potted palm killed by a beetle that ate a hole through the bottom of the thin plastic pot last year to gain access, so that plastic isn't an effective barrier.  I am planning on making cement barriers, that are 3 thirds of a circle, each 120 degrees with a 14" radius, 1" thick, and 3/8 holes perforating them at multiple points.  Sort of like poking holes in a large concrete pizza, cutting it into thirds, and placing these over the base of the palm when planting.  We'll see if that works, but I bet they will just crawl underneath.  I am only going to make maybe 3 of them as an experiment.  A couple of years back I made a light trap.  We put a light out back in the woods and hung it over a big plastic jar buried in the dirt partially filled with soapy water, and I used methyl ethyl ketone (MEK, a solvent you can find at the hardware store) on a cotton ball hung from wire over the jar.  I found out that MEK is part of the male pheromone for Strategus.  Anyway we caught about 50 big beetles, but they weren't Strategus.  I did it too late in the year and I keep getting too busy to repeat the experiment early enough to catch the ox beetle.

[Cindy Adair]

Thanks so much for your update and research!  It matters.

The perfect cheap mechanical barrier that can be installed with or after planting would be amazingly helpful and potentially marketable. 

I recall Ed that you had a awful issue with scale after using imidocloprid.  And before these beetles I used no pest control on my plants and nature worked things out. 

But I just can’t manage the intensity of daily beetle checking on all my palms, much less flushing out beetles where no water hoses anywhere close.

The light catching and killing idea makes sense, but of course I hate to kill the more innocent beetles. And a big space to cover too.
 

Actually I hate to kill the ox beetles as they are very interesting and other than this seem benign. Just need them to build their galleries only under plants I don’t want. That would be perfect. Take down the big banana clumps I don’t need for example.

I was wondering if treating the palms I have not yet planted (that are at least one gallon) with imidocloprid (that supposedly lasts a year) would be helpful if I risked a scale issue.
 

I would not only protect the potted palms (maybe) which would be good and use much less product following label directions for container plants. Better for pocketbook and the environment.
 

I do not believe I have seen beetle holes on anything treated early with imidocloprid but can’t be completely sure. Just now getting a better marking system rather than trusting my memory so next year I’ll have better information.

I was thinking the palms would go into the ground after being pretreated systemically  at least 1-2 weeks prior and see if that might protect them for the whole first year.
 

I have not really put this to the test.

Much easier to treat them all together rather than hauling the water and supplies all over my big place plus the palm to plant and shovel etc. 

Many planting locations are not wheel barrow accessible so hauling sand and rocks on steep hills is also an issue.

Of course having fewer palms would work too, but what’s the fun in that?

[Ed Askew]

I used imidacloprid myself, and I also sprayed spectracide prophylacticly around the base of the small palms, and it did work to decrease attacks by Strategus, but it brought on an even worse plague of scale.  It took years to get my palms over that, and now if I see any scale on a palm I just leave it or put out Terro baits to control ants, and the scale goes away by itself.  Actually my little friends take care of it.  I spent 5 minutes today all together saving a little palm.  Got a major male out.  I leave the hose on,  just barely going, go do something else, come back, maybe an hour later, collect and dispatch the beetle and I have the stuff right there to fill the hole.  I designed and installed and constantly modify my outdoor plumbing, and I have a lot of spigots.   I have a lot of garden hose; I just leave it where I know they’re  going to attack, and I’ll roll it all up in September.  I have lots of palms and all but 5 are sabals.  Sabals I hear are bad about having scale.  Also I live in the middle of a southern yellow pine forest.  Those pines have a lot of scale.  Others maybe can get away with using insecticides around their palms.  I can’t.

Also, Asian jasmine deters Strategus.  I have a lot of that growing really thick in some places, and they don’t hit the palms where the jasmine grows.

[SailorBold]

What a nightmare....

[Cindy Adair]

Thanks Ed. Your information over years of fighting these beetles really helps!

[Sabal King]

On 8/10/2019 at 11:43 AM, Matt N- Dallas said:

Sorry to see those Cindy!  We have a problem with rhino beetles in central and S TX.  I now keep all palms and agaves treated with systemic insecticide to prevent further losses.  They seem to have a special affinity for brahea and cocosoid palms at my place.  I’ve lost: sabal bermudana, brahea nitida, jubeaea x syagrus, butia, brahea decumbens, trithrinax acanthacoma, butia x jubaea. 

Which systemic insecticide are you using?  I am in North Texas and while these have not reared their ugly heads, I want to be ready and maybe get out ahead of them.

[Cindy Adair]

tlow, this or the same product in liquid form is what I applied 8/20 to every palm less than trunking size in the ground and all in pots one gallon or larger.

I hated to do it, but it seemed necessary to try something quickly.

Note that it is a systemic applied to the ground very near the stem, NOT a foliar spray and there were no treated palms in flower. 

Treating after holes were seen was not quick enough, possibly since I have too many trees and too much land to check everything frequently. 

Still doing so saved some in the past, but left some with two heads or other deformities.

The year is not up yet, but I can report that no palms seemed to die in response to my treatment. And over all I can say so far so good!

Much easier to pretreat while in pots (waiting one week or more for absorption) than to haul water, tags and product up and down hills over 15 acres. 
 

Most of my plants are now on benches but previously I had a few beetle caused deaths in palms still in pots and none since treatment. Also the amount of product used is much smaller.

I certainly do not claim pesticide knowledge and the dose I used was my best interpretation of the package instructions. 
 

Choice of liquid or granular was based on what the one big box store had in stock 8/20 and was designated on the plant markers I used. 
 

8/21 I will decide whether or not to reapply and see if I can tell any difference in usefulness of the granular versus the liquid.

 I plan some photos for follow up then.

I do have the imidocloprid powder ordered online as recommended by posts here. It would certainly save dollars, but I became confused as to dosing (weight? volume? expected duration of protection?) and just went for the Bayer stuff for a first round. 

[Sabal King]

18 hours ago, Cindy Adair said:

tlow, this or the same product in liquid form is what I applied 8/20 to every palm less than trunking size in the ground and all in pots one gallon or larger.

I hated to do it, but it seemed necessary to try something quickly.

Note that it is a systemic applied to the ground very near the stem, NOT a foliar spray and there were no treated palms in flower. 

Treating after holes were seen was not quick enough, possibly since I have too many trees and too much land to check everything frequently. 

Still doing so saved some in the past, but left some with two heads or other deformities.

The year is not up yet, but I can report that no palms seemed to die in response to my treatment. And over all I can say so far so good!

Much easier to pretreat while in pots (waiting one week or more for absorption) than to haul water, tags and product up and down hills over 15 acres. 
 

Most of my plants are now on benches but previously I had a few beetle caused deaths in palms still in pots and none since treatment. Also the amount of product used is much smaller.

I certainly do not claim pesticide knowledge and the dose I used was my best interpretation of the package instructions. 
 

Choice of liquid or granular was based on what the one big box store had in stock 8/20 and was designated on the plant markers I used. 
 

8/21 I will decide whether or not to reapply and see if I can tell any difference in usefulness of the granular versus the liquid.

 I plan some photos for follow up then.

I do have the imidocloprid powder ordered online as recommended by posts here. It would certainly save dollars, but I became confused as to dosing (weight? volume? expected duration of protection?) and just went for the Bayer stuff for a first round. 

Wonder if this is something we should do as a pre-cursor to them being attacked.. I am in an area where it seems like they seem to pop up.

[Cindy Adair]

I was quite resistant to using any chemicals and the holes very near the palm stem are obvious now that I know what they are. 

No microscope needed.

And lots of soapy water in a hole does make the beetles crawl out to confirm identification.

I would not use any preventative chemical product until I saw a big need on my own land.  
 

So far no issues with fully trunking untreated palms, meaning I have seen no holes and no sign of damage. Hope it stays that way!

[PricklyPearSATC]

4 hours ago, tlow said:

Wonder if this is something we should do as a pre-cursor to them being attacked.. I am in an area where it seems like they seem to pop up.

In 2008, mine were destroyed by the Ox Beetle.
Watch out for compost, mulch etc.  Keep the area around the based the palm clear.
If you can get your hands on caliche, try that.

I use the Bayer,  but recently purchased the Bonide version which does not have fertilizer. 

I have not had problems since 2008

[Sabal King]

2 hours ago, PricklyPearSATC said:

In 2008, mine were destroyed by the Ox Beetle.
Watch out for compost, mulch etc.  Keep the area around the based the palm clear.
If you can get your hands on caliche, try that.

I use the Bayer,  but recently purchased the Bonide version which does not have fertilizer. 

I have not had problems since 2008

Which Bonide product are you using?  I've used their copper and many other things in the past.

[PricklyPearSATC]

6 hours ago, tlow said:

Which Bonide product are you using?  I've used their copper and many other things in the past.

https://bonide.com/product/annual-tree-shrub-insect-control-w-systemaxx-conc/
 

 

It's like the Bayer product without the fertilizer. 

[Cindy Adair]

Clearly the one year protection on the Bayer product is not true for Strategus on my farm. It was just after we started getting significant rain that I noticed beetle holes and damage. So late April after applying last August.

Some palm deaths already as I injured my shoulder plus had booked flights to the States. 
 
I have some help applying more imidocloprid to just try to save what I can while exploring other options. 
 

My closest big box store yielded this plan.

Pull weeds by hand close to a palm. Place a small circle using a 3 foot length of the no dig edging secured by 3 spikes hammered in. 

Place a circle of weed block. Then a square of this 1/4 inch hardware cloth with the edges bent up a bit to make a circle and include close to the stem of the young palm. 

Then it took 6 cups of river rocks to fill it up.

[Cindy Adair]

This is what a little Drymophloeus Irian Jaya 

looks like with the tip of my size 7 shoes for scale.

 

For now I will not install this trial barrier on any palms with signs of beetle damage. 

I have no idea if a determined beetle will just dig under this, but it is wide enough to block all the access holes I have encountered so far. 

Fairly easy to install at planting time and it is planting time now, if only I weren’t wearing a sling and battling beetles!

Any thoughts?
 

[Ed Askew]

Hello fellow beetle warriors!  I have 3 different inventions that I'm trying this season to stop the beetle, on 20 palms I planted this spring.  I think this one is going to work, mostly, but already I can see it isn't 100% effective, but then I don't think anything is.   It's better than a rock mulch, for sure.  I call it the Palm Fortress, and I went into some detail about it on my old thread that dates back to 2012:

 

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/33134-strategus-aloeus-tis-the-season-for-the-ox-beetle/

 

[Cindy Adair]

I especially love the name of your invention!
 

A palm fortress is exactly what I need. 

[Gonzer]

On 6/23/2021 at 3:18 PM, Cindy Adair said:

 

looks like with the tip of my size 7 shoes for scale.

 

 

Um...that's a shoe? You sure? Looks like a baby sock puppet.

[Cindy Adair]

Funny! Agreed that these shoes have seen better days, but are so comfortable I have not yet tossed them. 

[Cindy Adair]

For those interested, be sure to follow Ed’s topic including his recent posts and my questions as he has been fighting this beetle much longer than I have. 

We are both very motivated to figure out practical and effective systems for our collections!

[Cindy Adair]

I found some more of what seem to be aborted beetle entry holes. This palm was treated in March and when I inserted the spike into the smaller than average hole it penetrated less than two inches. Perhaps the beetle left after tasting the imidocloprid or if I am lucky (and the beetle unlucky) the taste was ultimately fatal. I did retreat with some imidocloprid directly in the hole just in case before installing the no dig landscape edging.

Here’s a close up of the spike inserted into the edging.

I am averaging 4 spikes to secure the 36 inch strip at ground level. I did find some spikes of another brand online costing 50 for $25 free shipping so about half the vigoro price. Still $2 per palm  just in spikes so need to try to decrease costs further if possible. I tried some garden staples but they did not hold securely.

 

Below is my little Asterogyne martiana with the weeding done and edging in place

 

[Cindy Adair]

These photos show the landscape fabric weed blocker and then the 23 gauge 1/4 inch hardware cloth.

I am trying to have the metal come close to the stem without impaling it and with some fabric as a buffer. 

I used a fifty pound bag of river rocks to complete just 5 barriers. Clearly this part will be a challenge to get rocks to palms spread over many areas of my 15 acres.

I can get a pile of rocks delivered, but they would dump them in one location so it would still involve lots of carrying by me so the bags might be easier.

I am guessing the rock layer is not critical as the mesh alone if pressed in place could be enough but the rocks look better and would make a beetle have to work harder for sure. Also right now, especially on the ones without rocks, it would be easy to see any signs of beetle attempted entry.
 

Anybody know the best sort of rocks to keep from changing soil pH or causing any sort of potential harm to palms??? I’d hate to kill my palms with the rock layer! Are marble chips or gravel safe?

Thanks for any suggestions. 

[Swolte]

@Cindy Adair thanks for these updates! I patrol daily for beetle activity and have found 3 cases of 'suffocating' beetles a few feet from Imidocloprid-treated palms. I hope that's been the case with yours too. Did you also put your finger in the hole and look for directional changes in digging activity? I have found one case where they also dug a bit towards the center of the palm in addition to straight down. When I was flushing one out I could see it trying to escape toward that area and I basically had to hook it out with my finger (before I impaled it  ).

I really like your design. Very clever and relatively easy to implement. I am only worried, as you probably are too, that they will dig underneath it! Unless I misunderstood, if @Ed Askew is to be believed, he has seen cases of beetles starting to dig more than a foot out from mere mesh-protection as well as aborted holes to his fortress that went up to 4" deep suggesting any effective protection design would need some underground fortressing too.

I wouldn't worry at all about the rock changing the Ph of the soil by laying some rocks on top! Despite some popular science, changing the Ph of the soil is extremely hard to do in the long run.

Edited July 2, 2021 by Swolte

[Cindy Adair]

Thanks Swolte!

Yes I am certainly worried that my design will prove useless or only minimally helpful.

 I have bought three packs of 100 feet each of landscape edging so enough for 99 “palm protection barriers”. Not nearly enough for all my palms.

However I expect that will be enough to see if it helps at all. 

That’s reassuring that perhaps the cheapest rocks in the easiest to carry bags might be safe. No way can I haul around 50 pound bags for acres in far from flat land with one arm temporarily impaired.

Pheromones and traps like all of Ed Askew’s trials or some safe biological control sound ideal. If these are substantial pests for oil palms one would think money would have been spent looking for easy options?

If only Strategus preferred the nasty invasive grass planted for erosion control years ago in Puerto Rico!

I am not optimistic about finding people and money in PR to study this, but seems like some university (maybe in TX) might have some interest for grad students in Entomology or palm horticulture? It would seem an IPS interest as well.

I can dream.

[Cindy Adair]

RIP another beetle mortality-Johannesteijmannia altifrons.  Lucky that I have more but this one was perfect until I went out of town briefly two months ago.

Many more on the critical list. Don't be fooled by a quick glance as shown in this Genoma atrovirens, my largest one. 

Look at the base though!

These were both treated with the Bayer 12 month imidocloprid product 8/20 and again 5/21, but damaged already.

The Genoma has a chance based on my previous experience. Time will tell. 

 

[Swolte]

I am sorry to see that! I heard reapplication every 6 weeks may keep it all running better (or worse, depending on perspective).  Which reminds me...

Edited July 5, 2021 by Swolte

[Dartolution]

@Cindy Adair , Read this thread and did not see a mention of Neem Oil as a preventative / treatment. 

Here, Japanese beetles if left unchecked can wreak havoc. Regular bi-monthly applications of neem oil seem to do the trick keeping them away. 

Spinosad on an alternating schedule as well bi-monthly takes care of the rest, and neither product seems to have any serious environmental toxicity. 

 

While japanese beetles are a far cry from whatever monstrosity you've got tearing up your palms; the thought occurred to mention these in the event you had not tried them. 

Im not sure how effective either product would be, considering that spinosad needs to be injested and is used to target chewing insects and caterpillars (similarly to BT products), and neem oil is effective if sprayed onto the adults. It also works to disrupt the lifecycle, smother eggs, and prevent larvae from pupating properly. 

 

Just a thought. 

I've had to use Imidocloprid before, but try to only use it when necessary, and ONLY on non-flowering plants or those that are not targets for pollinators. 

I understand your concern about using those types of products. 

 

Orange oil (cold pressed) is super effective at killing basically anything when directly applied, but it does not have any lingering toxicity or prolonged effect.  

[Cindy Adair]

23 hours ago, Swolte said:

I am sorry to see that! I heard reapplication every 6 weeks may keep it all running better (or worse, depending on perspective).  Which reminds me...

For crazy collectors like me with lots of little palm trees spread over 15 acres, the time and cost to apply imidocloprid in any form every six months seems overwhelming, much less every 6 weeks.

Perhaps I would be up to once a year, a few weeks before the rainy season generic imidocloprid  applied very near the palm in addition to the beetle barrier.

Just until a pheromone trap is perfected?

Dartolution, I certainly like the safety data on Neem, although not sure it would kill these critters. However I understand that UV light and rain can decrease efficacy of neem. Certainly application of any foliar spray seems daunting to cover all surfaces. 

I did see there is granular neem, but not sure it is really a systemic regardless.

Keep all these great ideas and moral support coming.

I guess every area, even Puerto Rico, has its nemesis whether escaping cattle, gophers, drought, feral pigs, frost, terrible soil, etc. 
 

If growing palms were trouble free the forum might be very quiet...

[Swolte]

A few observations:
- Holes found almost a foot out from a Canariensis (note, this palm had a layer of rocks around it and was protected by insecticide), as can be seen by this picture. It's possible this hole was present before I put the insecticide down as it was kinda hidden (did a more thorough examination after I noticed the palm wasn't growing as well). After a reapplication and some patching of possible holes,I later found another exit hole and a struggling beetle a few feet from the palm.  
- They attack Palms (mainly), yucca's, as well as Agave's (just flushed out 2 from under a young Weberi pup only 6 inches high). I have also found a hole under Frostweed.  
- I have found dead ox beetles cut in half (wasn't me). I assume some animals out there (Armadillo's, snakes?) hunt them but when taking a bite, spit it out due to the insecticide?

[Cindy Adair]

So sorry.

Hopefully the pictured palm will recover, as some of mine have even before I discovered the beetle issue here.

I have only fully implemented my beetle barrier multilayered approach on about 20 easy to reach palms as I must currently rely on others totally to install.

And these initial palms were selected for ease of access and treated with imidocloprid since March so perhaps the least vulnerable.

Once I am full speed again I will devote a full time effort (trialing with this method) to try to save my spread out and often vertical collection.