Atheloca subrufella (Hulst), a pest of coconuts

Atheloca subrufella (Hulst), an occasional pest of coconut, Cocos nucifera L., is a small moth which occurs throughout Florida. It also occurs in Cuba and the Virgin Islands (Kimball, 1965; Heinrich, 1956). At the time Heinrich (1956) established the genus Atheloca for this species, nothing was known about its biology. Kimball (1965) reported cabbage palm, Sabal palmetto (Walt.) Lodd, and saw palmetto, Serenoa repens (Bartr.) Small, as hosts of A. subrufella. A related species, A. bondari Henrich, was reported (as Hyalospila ptychis Dyar) to be a pest of coconut, as well as several other species of Cocos and Attalea in Brazil (Bondar, 1940).