Ulat Bulu Orgyia sp. (Lepidoptera: Erebidae), Hama Potensial pada Tanaman Kelapa Sawit [Hairy Caterpillar, Orgyia sp. (Lepidoptera: Erebidae), Potential Pest on Oil Palm] - Hosang, Meldy L.A.; Alouw, Jelfina C.; Djufry, Fadjry (Buletin Palma, 2017)
The outbreaks of hairy caterpillar pests on oil palm plants that are quite severe in one of the estate oil palm plantations in West Papua occurred in 2016. Species of hairy caterpillar and the level of its damage are not known yet for certain. The purposes of this research were to identify the pest causing oil palm damage and to determine the level of palm damage, pest population and their natural enemies. Three locations were selected on the Marmare Sub District, Manokwari, West Papua. In each location, 30 plants were selected randomly in the area of the pest attack and the leaf damage was estimated. Identification result of the pest that attack young oil palm trees in PT Yongjing Investindo, West Papua was the hairy caterpillar called tusock moth, Orgyia sp. The pest caused low (5-20%) and moderate (30-40%) level of foliar damage found in 81.1% (73 plants) and 18.9% (17 plants) palm population respectively. Since palm damage potentially reduced oil palm production, regularly monitoring pest populations are needed to prevent pest outbreak.ABSTRAKLedakan serangan hama ulat bulu pada tanaman kelapa sawit, cukup parah di salah satu perkebunan sawit swasta di Papua Barat terjadi pada tahun 2016. Jenis ulat bulu dan tingkat kerusakannya belum diketahui secara pasti. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi jenis hama ulat bulu, tingkat kerusakan, populasi hama, dan musuh alaminya. Survei hama dilakukan di tiga lokasi di Distrik Marmare, Kabupaten Manokwari, Papua Barat. Pada masing-masing lokasi dipilih 30 pohon contoh secara acak pada lokasi serangan hama kemudian diestimasi tingkat kerusakan. Hasil identifikasi menunjukkan bahwa jenis ulat yang menyerang tanaman kelapa sawit muda di PT Yongjing Investindo, Papua Barat adalah ulat bulu Orgyia sp. Dari 90 tanaman contoh, kerusakan ringan (5-20%) akibat serangan Orgyia sp. dapat mencapai 81,1% (73 tanaman) dan sebanyak 18,9% (17 tanaman), termasuk tingkat serangan sedang (30-40%). Serangan ulat bulu Orgyia sp. pada perkebunan sawit masih terbatas di Distrik Marmare, tetapi berpotensi meluas ke areal pertanaman sawit lainnya. Oleh karena itu, perlu dilakukan tindakan monitoring dan pengendalian di lapangan untuk mencegah kerusakan lebih parah.