Issues with my new palm tree

[marchello87]

Good afternoon all,

I live in Brisbane, Australia and about month ago I used a service of a landscaping firm from Brisbane who made my garden to look much prettier. 

They put a palm tree and it looked pretty good for the first 2 weeks, however I noticed how some branches got eaten by something.

Each week situation is worse and worse. At first I thought that spraying pest oil would resolve the issue, but it did not help. 

Could any of you please help me to understand what is causing this?

I have uploaded a couple of pictures.

[Palmiz]

Good afternoon, it kind of looks like grasshopper damage possibly or caterpillar. Try spraying malathion to see if it helps. Goodluck!

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by Palmiz

[Merlyn]

Here in Florida I would probably blame a lubber grasshopper, or maybe a squirrel.  But it could be a caterpillar too, given the chew marks in the center of leaves.  I'd look around under and above the leaves.  Neem oil or other horticultural oils won't do anything if it's a caterpillar.

[Darold Petty]

marchello87,  Welcome to Palmtalk  !   

[marchello87]

Thank you so much for all the support. I finally managed to figure out what was eating and destroying my new palm tree. 

It's called the Orange Palm Dart caterpillar. It seems that they only exist in Australia. 

I have uploaded their image.

Has anyone else had the same issue with a similar species, or if you live in Australia, with this one?

I would really appreciate it if anyone else can help me learn how to kill them and how to stop them from spreading in my front garden.

Thanks

 

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by marchello87

[Looking Glass]

Lol.   This is very similar to the leaf rollers that attack my various palms here.  Even the butterfly form looks similar.  I just pluck them off of small palms by hand, and scrape off the solitary white eggs if I see them.  Imidacloprid seems to work as a systemic if needed.  For adult palms, it no big deal, they can handle some grazing, but in juveniles, they can cause some significant damage here.  

I keep an eye out for chomped leaflets and find them in their folded hideouts, and toss them to the lizards here.  

I have a theory that the butterflies seem to gravitate to the tree they grew up on, to lay eggs.  If I get them all off of a small, new species, they don’t seem to return readily for the next cycle.  They’ll hit most types of palms here.  

[marchello87]

1 hour ago, Looking Glass said:

Lol.   This is very similar to the leaf rollers that attack my various palms here.  Even the butterfly form looks similar.  I just pluck them off of small palms by hand, and scrape off the solitary white eggs if I see them.  Imidacloprid seems to work as a systemic if needed.  For adult palms, it no big deal, they can handle some grazing, but in juveniles, they can cause some significant damage here.  

I keep an eye out for chomped leaflets and find them in their folded hideouts, and toss them to the lizards here.  

I have a theory that the butterflies seem to gravitate to the tree they grew up on, to lay eggs.  If I get them all off of a small, new species, they don’t seem to return readily for the next cycle.  They’ll hit most types of palms here.  

Wow they look really similar.

They smashed one of my leaves pretty hardly.

Is there any chance that my palm can get better after this, if I keep monitoring it daily, until I make sure that all of them are killed and gone.

At first I thought that I was overwatering the palm, but then I measured the moist of soil and it was fine. 

After that I was 100% certain that something was eating my plants and before today I had no idea what it was.

At least now I know what is going on and I can fight against it. 

Thanks a lot for the feedback

[Merlyn]

@marchello87a systemic pesticide is a good solution, I am not sure what ones are available in Australia.  I'd check underneath the leaves and see if you can spot any more of them, it's probably the fastest way to get them all.  The damage is mostly cosmetic at this point, it should grow out of it over the summer.