Palm Pest and Disease Image Gallery

Online quick reference for Hawaii’s palm growers

Scot Nelson, University of Hawaii at Manoa, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR), Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences (PEPS) snelson@hawaii.edu

Nearly 170 digital photos of pests and diseases of palms in Hawaii are provided here to help palm growers diagnose their pest or disease problems. For most images, the resolution and size is set at 150 DPI and (500 x 375) pixels, respectively, to provide sufficient clarity and size to enable the recognition of the more subtle disease characteristics with confidence. Users of this site are encouraged to request or submit high-resolution images of palm problems by email. All images here are copyright-free.

How to use this site: Pests and palm health problems are listed in brown font below in alphabetical order. Browse and click on an image associated with a particular problem. View, save or print the image. Click on your browser’s “back arrow” to return to this page. If you would like more information, please contact the University of Hawaii at Manoa Cooperative Extension Service.

Bacterial leaf blight (Acidovorax avenae, syn. Pseudomonas avenae):

- on Fishtail palm (Caryota mitis): | leaf blight and black stripes 1 2 3 | secondary colonization of bacterial lesions by fungi 1 | text |

Banana Moth (Opogona sacchari):

- on Pritchardia palm: | dying plants 1 2 3 | heart rot due to moth infestation 1 2 3 4 5 | adult banana moth 1 2 | banana moth larvae 1 2 | banana moth frass 1 | stem damage 1 | PDF |

- on various other palms: | leaf and heart rot 1 2 | damage and frass as basal stem 1 |

Bipolaris leaf spot and blight (Bipolaris incurvata):

- on Pritchardia palm: | leaf spots and blight 1 2 | text |

- on Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera): | text |

Boron deficiency: | text (University of Florida .html) |

- on Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera): | leaf wrinkling/”accordion leaf” and distortion 1 2 3 | necrotic inflorescence 1 | leaves fail to open properly 1 | more severe leaf distortion 1 2 | trimmed leaves 1 |

- on various other palms: | leaf wrinkling symptom 1 2 3 | petiole collapse 1 | collapse and distortion/wrinkling of heart leaf 1 |

- trunk bending symptom | trunk bending 1 2 3 |

Calonectria (Cylindrocladium) leaf spot (Calonectria sp.):

- on Kentia palm (Howea forsteriana): | foliar blight on seedlings 1 2 3 4 5 | leaf spots and blight of older plants in nursery 1 | text |

Coconut mealybug (Nipaecoccus nipae): | mealybug text |

- on Fishtail palm (Caryota mitis): | adult males and females on leaves 1 | text |

- on Pygmy date palm (Phoenix roebelenii): | yellowing of affected leaves 1 | adult males and females on leaves 1 2 | text |

- on Triangle palm (Neodypsis decaryi): | adult males and females on leaves 1 2 | text |

Colletotrichum leaf spot (Colletotrichum sp.):

- on Red sealing wax palm (Cyrtostachys renda): | PDF |

Drought stress: | dying palm plant in roadside landscape in Kailua-Kona 1 |

Eriophyid mites (unidentified):

- on Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera): | damage to and distortion of nuts 1 2 |

- on Samoan coconut: | nut damage and sap bleeding 1 |

Fertilizer burn: | of potted palm, leaf scorch 1 | text |

Formosan subterranean termite (insect, Coptotermes formosanus):

- on Pritchardia palm: | colony feeding damage to heart leaf 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 |

Heart rot [host-Coconut; pathogen-Phytophthora katsurae]: | necrotic heart leaf 1 2 3 | base (internal rot) 1 | crown (internal rot) 1 | text | more text and photos at Crop Knowledge Master |

Landscape problems: | too close to other trees 1 | drainage problem, foliar yellowing 1 |

Lightning injury (coconut palm, Cocos nucifera): | damage to mature plants 1 2 3 | nut drop 1 | blown out xylem 1 2 | text |

Magnesium deficiency:

- on Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera): | mild symptoms leaf chlorosis 1 |

- on various other palms: | 1 2 |

Mealybugs

- on Pritchardia sp. (the mealybug is an unidentified species): | damage to crown and heart leaf 1 2 | text |

Nitrogen deficiency (and multiple deficiencies):

- on Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera): | general foliar yellowing 1 |

- on various other palms: | 1 | severe multiple deficiencies on Areca palm 1 |

Pesticide injury:

- on Areca palm (Chrysalidocarpus lutescens): | vikane injury to leaves (a residential termiticide; used in house tenting) 1 |

- on Chamaedorea palm: | copper fungicide injury to leaves 1 |

Pink rot, Gliocladium blight (Gliocladium vermoeseni, fungus):

- on Areca palm (Chrysalidocarpus lutescens): | root and stem rot of potted plant, typical pink fungal masses 1 2 3 | text |

Potassium deficiency: | PDF at University of Florida |

- on Pritchardia palm: | mild symptom leaf yellowing 1 | mild symptom leaf speckling 1 | more severe symptoms and leaf dieback 1 2 3 4 | compare healthy vs. k-deficient plants 1 |

- on Fishtail palm (Caryota mitis): | mild, mottling 1 | severe, leaf scorch 1 |

- on Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera): | silver-leaf symptom 1 2 | severe mottling 1 |

- on Kentia palm (Howea forsteriana): | severe, leaf spotting 1 |

- on Phoenix roebelleni | leaf tip necrosis 1 |

- on various other palms: | leaf mosaic 1 | marginal yellowing and tip burn 1 |

Pseudocercospora leaf spot (Pseudocercospora rhapisicola, fungus):

- on Rhapis palm (Rhapis excelsa): | spots on leaves 1 2 3 4 5 | text |

Rat feeding injury: | to young potted plant stem 1 | text |

Scale insects: | on palm leaves 1 | text at Crop Knowledge Master |

- on Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera): | scales insects on leaves 1 | feeding damage to leaves 1 |

Sooty mold: | on palm leaves 1 2 3 4 | text |

Spear blight (Bipolaris sp.)

- on Kentia palm (Howea forsteriana): | spear blight symptom 1 | leaf spots and blights 1 2 3 4 5 6 | text: see Bipolaris leaf spot and blight |

Spiraling whitefly (Aleurodicus dispersus):

- on Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera): | on leaves 1 2 | text at Crop Knowledge Master |

Stem bleeding [host-Coconut; pathogen-Chalara paradoxa (fungus)]: | in landscape setting 1 2 3 4 5 6 | internal stem decay 1 | sampling for pathogen 1 | text |

Stinging nettle caterpillar (Darna pallivitta): | caterpillars and frass on palm leaves 1 | PDF |

Thielaviopsis bud rot (fungus, Thielaviopsis paradoxa):

- on Pritchardia palm: | 1 2 3 4 5 |

Weevils (and banana moth)

- on Pritchardia palm: | heart rot, leaf damage and yellowing 1 2 3 4 5 | holes in young leaves 1 2 |

Links: | The Farmer’s Bookshelf | Crop Knowledge Master | Hawaii Pesticide Information Retrieval System | CTAHR homepage | Diseases of Date Palms | Diseases of Coconut Palms | Palm Disease Compendium |

More Pest & Disease Image Galleries: | Coffee (Coffea arabica) | Kava (Piper methysticum) | Papaya (Carica papaya) | Koa (Acacia koa) | Noni (Morinda citrifolia) |

Photo credits: Scot Nelson, Mike Nagao

Site design: Scot Nelson (2006)

Last site update: 26.June.2008

Notes: All photos on this site were taken on the Big Island of Hawaii. Pests and diseases shown on this page were identified and diagnosed by staff of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Please contact snelson@hawaii.edu if you think there is an error. In many cases, multiple diseases exist simultaneously on a palm plant, particularly nutrient deficiencies. Symptoms of diseases shown represent typical expressions of disease, other symptoms not shown here are possible for these palm problems. There are also many other leaf spot diseases, fungal diseases and insect pest problems found on Hawaii’s palms and not yet depicted on this site. This site will be updated periodically with text and links and as new photographs for palm problems become available. Photos are copyright-free for educational use.