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This leaflet is produced by the Ministry of Agriculture & Livestock, Solomon Islands, with support 
from IPPSI: 

Improved Plant Protection in Solomon Islands, a project financed by ACIAR, the 

Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra. Authors: Helen Tsatsia, MAL & 
Grahame Jackson, TerraCircle Inc.

 

Farmer Fact Sheet 19:

 Cassava Shoot Dieback  

 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 

What causes it? 

 

A large bug causes the dieback. It has a 
long, needle-like, mouth. It uses this to 
suck juices from stems and fruits. The 
scientific name is 

Amblypelta. 

 

What damage does it do? 

 

As the bug feeds, it injects a poison into the plant. Different plants develop different 
symptoms:  

•  On coconuts, the young fruit (or nuts) fall;  

•  On Eucalyptus and cassava, the shoots wilt and die, and dead woody areas called 

cankers develop on the stems (photo, left);  

•  On cocoa, the young pods (the cherelles) develop black sunken spots and become 

misshapen as they grow.   

 

How do I identify it? 

 

The bug has a pale green body, long legs, and pale brown wings (photo, right). The 
body is 20 mm long. It has a very long needle-like mouth, almost as long as its body. 
The young bugs look like the adults, except they are smaller.  

 

How do I control the bug? 

 

Natural control by ants occurs in Solomon Islands. 

Wasmannia, the fire ant from 

Papua New Guinea, controls the bug in coconuts. 

Oecophylla, the weaver ant, 

controls the bug in cocoa, so plant soursop between the rows of cocoa to attract them

. 

Damage to cassava is usually quite low, so control measures are not worthwhile.