Coccotrypes dactyliperda
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Coccotrypes dactyliperda, the date stone beetle, palm seed borer, or button beetle, is an insect belonging to the subfamily bark beetles (Scolytinae). It originates from Africa and is spread around the world due to the trading and transportation route.
The date stone beetle is known as the pest for the date palm. They mainly feed, breed, and live on the dates, which are the fruits of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera). The dates provide enough nutrients to feed 70-80 beetles. Therefore, most beetles can spend their entire life within the same date. They would gnaw a hole on the date seed and create a tunnel. This penetration process leads to severe damage to the date seeds and huge economic and crop loss. Interestingly, the beetle only attacks the green unripe fruit and avoids the ripe fruit.
The date stone beetle has very similar characteristics with Callosobruchus chinensis in respect to behavior and habitat. Reproductive interference is shown between these two species. The date stone beetle uses the haplodiploid sex-determination system and inbred mating is very common. High-relatedness within C. dactyliperda galleries contributes to its high reproductive success and rapid population growth, which is crucial in its short-lived breeding site.
Mechanical pest control using dense netting bunch covers helps to protect dates and other fruits from these pests. Chemical pest control using organophosphates is also effective, but may have negative chemical side effects and requires multiple applications throughout the growing season. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auckland | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Date Stone Beetle sighting in Auckland on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 425th most-seen of the 689 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–April and June
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Date Stone Beetle in Auckland on a given day, against under 5% in May and July–January, the lowest months.
Only Auckland, in our data
Auckland is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Date Stone Beetle sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Curculionidae
The closest relatives of the Date Stone Beetle that you can see in Auckland (family Curculionidae, True Weevils) are Fuller's Rose Weevil (about 10%), White-Fringed Weevil (about 10%) and Cleonus confessus (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Date Stone Beetle is recorded against all the insects logged in Auckland (12 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
