News Agriculture

Killer bug behind coconut plague identified

Wrong insect perpetrator initially implicated in palm die-off in Philippines

magnified image of the bug Aspidiotus rigidus

COCONUT CULPRIT  The invasive bug Aspidiotus rigidus is an approximately 1-millimeter-long insect that's behind a coconut die-off in the Philippines. Here, it is shown stained and magnified 200 times.

G. Watson/California Dept. of Agriculture

By Nsikan Akpan

- More than 2 years ago

Old-school taxonomy has solved a case of mistaken identity involving an insect pest threatening the coconut industry in the Philippines, the world’s No.