5. White grub: Leucopholis coneophora (Melolonthidae: Coleoptera)
Host range
Sweet potato, tapioca, colocasia and banana raised as intercrop in coconut plantations.
Damage symptom
Leaves turn yellow, immature nuts shed, flowering delayed. White grubs are exposed when base of the tree is dug.
Bionomics
Female lays eggs in the soil at a depth of 7 to 15 cm. Egg period 20 days, grub period 10-11 months, prepupal period 9-12 days. pupal period 25 days. Pupation occurs in soil. Adult beetle emerges after monsoon showers.

Management 1.Summer ploughing exposes the immature stages 2. Sow the crop early in the kharif season. 3. Treat the seeds with chlorpyriphos @ 12 ml/kg of kernels. 4. Apply phorate 10 G 10 kg or carbofuran 3 G 30 kg per ha in the soil at or before sowing. 5. Spray 500 g carbaryl 50 WP 500 g in 250 L of water per ha on the preferred hosts like ber, guava, banana, in the vicinity