Rhabdoscelus obscurus

Basic information
Scientific name	Rhabdoscelus obscurus	(No picture)
Common names	Sugarcane weevil borer
Higher taxon	Dryophthoridae, Curculionoidea, Coleoptera
Natural range	Possibly New Guinea.
Habitat	Parasite on canes and palm trees.

Invasion information
Range in Japan	Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands (Chichijima, Hahajima, Anijima, Ototojima, Mukoujima, and Iwojima Is.), Daito Islands (Kitadaitojima and Minamidaitojima Is.).
Origin	Unintroduced to Japan.
Date	Unknown. There is a distribution description in Hayashi et al. (1984). The first record in Daito Islands was in 1960.
Route	Accidental: Hitchhiking on transport of palm trees.
Impact	Predation on Clinostigma savoryana and cane. In major islands in Ogasawara, 30-40% of the palm trees may be damaged by this weevil. Native organism(s) affected: Native palm tree Clinostigma savoryana and cane. In Daito Islands, damage on Livistona chinensis var. subglobosa.
Regulation in Japan	Family Dryophthoridae is desgnated as a Quarantine Pest (the Plant Protection Law).
Introduced range in other countries	Polynesia, Micronesia, Sulawesi, Australia (Queensland), Hawaii, etc.

Reference

Notes

Halfpapp & Storey (1991) Cane weevil borer, Rhabdoscelus obscurus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a pest of palm in northern Queensland, Australia. Principes. 35(4), 199-207.
Hayashi et al. (eds) (1984) The Coleoptera of Japan in Color Vol. IV. Hoikusha, Osaka (in Jpn)
Kohama & Takahara (2002) Exotic insects in Okinawa. Bull Okinawa Pref Mus. 28, 55-92 (in Jpn)
Plant Protection Station (2011) The Plant Protection Act. Quarantine Pest List. (Accessed on 2012-4-11) http://www.pps.go.jp/law_active/Notification/basis/5/245/html/245.html (in Jpn)
Schreine (2000) New Guinea Sugarcane Weevil (Accessed on 2012-4-11) http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/adap/Publications/ADAP_pubs/2000-9.pdf
Takahashi (1997) Rhabdoscelus obscurus in Ogasawara Islands. Proc Kanto-Tosan Plant Prot Soc. 44, 255-257 (in Jpn)

100 of the Japan’s Worst Invasive Alien Species