The
cane beetle,
Dermolepida albohirtum, is a native
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n
beetleBeetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species. They are classified in the order Coleoptera , which contains more described species than in any other order in the animal kingdom, constituting about 25% of all known life-forms...
and a pest of the
sugar caneSugarcane, or sugar cane, is any of six to thirty-seven species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to warm temperate to tropical regions of Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six meters tall...
. Adult beetles eat the leaves of sugar cane but greater damage is the done by their
larvaA larva is a young form of animal with indirect development, going through or undergoing metamorphosis ....
e hatching underground and eating the roots, which either kills or stunts the growth of the plant.
Larvae, which are known as
greyback cane grubs, are small white grubs.
Adult beetles are white with speckles of black and often smell like rotten pork.
The greyback cane beetle was, along with the Frenchi cane beetle,
Lepidiota frenchi, the reason that the
cane toadThe cane toad , also known as the Giant Neotropical Toad or Marine Toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad native to Central and South America. It is a member of the subgenus Chaunus of the genus Bufo, which includes many different true toad species found throughout Central and South America...
(
Bufo marinus) was introduced in Australia.
The cane toad was supposed to combat the beetles, to protect the sugar cane.
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The
cane beetle,
Dermolepida albohirtum, is a native
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n
beetleBeetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species. They are classified in the order Coleoptera , which contains more described species than in any other order in the animal kingdom, constituting about 25% of all known life-forms...
and a pest of the
sugar caneSugarcane, or sugar cane, is any of six to thirty-seven species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to warm temperate to tropical regions of Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six meters tall...
. Adult beetles eat the leaves of sugar cane but greater damage is the done by their
larvaA larva is a young form of animal with indirect development, going through or undergoing metamorphosis ....
e hatching underground and eating the roots, which either kills or stunts the growth of the plant.
Larvae, which are known as
greyback cane grubs, are small white grubs.
Adult beetles are white with speckles of black and often smell like rotten pork.
The greyback cane beetle was, along with the Frenchi cane beetle,
Lepidiota frenchi, the reason that the
cane toadThe cane toad , also known as the Giant Neotropical Toad or Marine Toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad native to Central and South America. It is a member of the subgenus Chaunus of the genus Bufo, which includes many different true toad species found throughout Central and South America...
(
Bufo marinus) was introduced in Australia.
The cane toad was supposed to combat the beetles, to protect the sugar cane. However, it didn't, and became a major pest.