Acoustic Detection of Oryctes rhinoceros (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae) and Nasutitermes luzonicus (Isoptera: Termitidae) in Palm Trees in Urban Guam

Abstract

Adult and larval Oryctes rhinoceros (L.) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae) were acoustically detected in live and dead palm trees and logs in recently invaded areas of Guam, along with Nasutitermes luzonicus Oshima (Isoptera: Termitidae), and other small, sound-producing invertebrates and invertebrates. The low-frequency, long-duration sound-impulse trains produced by large, active O. rhinoceros and the higher frequency, shorter impulse trains produced by feeding N. luzonicus had distinctive spectral and temporal patterns that facilitated their identification and discrimination from background noise, as well as from roaches, earwigs, and other small sound-producing organisms present in the trees and logs The distinctiveness of the O. rhinoceros sounds enables current usage of acoustic detection as a tactic in Guam’s ongoing O. rhinoceros eradication program.

invasive species, acoustic detection, eradication

Author notes

2

College of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Guam, Mangilao, Guam 96923.