![]() Now, after the legislature pumped about $2 million into the coming year’s state budget to address the beetle problem, Hawaii could be in a better place to eradicate whatever population exists on Kauai. The coconut rhinoceros beetle has been able to cut palm populations in half on other Pacific islands.ĭOA Chair Sharon Hurd said previous efforts to control the horned beetle were underfunded and too little was known about them, leading to their unmitigated spread. That’s because a lot of mulch is produced on Kauai already, according to Mike Melzer of the University of Hawaii Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle Response team.įinding the answer to where the insect came from will hopefully come soon, as tissue samples from the bugs have been sent from Kauai to UH Manoa for testing. Green waste is a key means of transport for the beetle, which breeds in mulch and foliage, making its appearance on Kauai more puzzling. Part of that plan was making sure it doesn’t hitch a ride anywhere else. The beetle is now firmly established on Oahu and, earlier this year, specialists announced they had moved into damage control and would no longer be able to eradicate the insect from the island. ![]() That’s because the beetles bore into the hearts of palm trees, effectively killing them in place. Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle larvae multiply in sites such as green waste transfer stations, like Kauai’s, which have perfect breeding conditions. ![]() The Department of Agriculture’s detection on Kauai comes after years of warnings from invasive species experts and entomologists, who have warned that Hawaii’s landscape would be overturned if the horned beetle gained a foothold. Two beetles were found on Kauai near Lihue Airport, one found alive at a green waste transfer station on May 31 and another found two days later, dead in a trap close by. Now it’s been found on Kauai.Ĭoconut rhinoceros beetles have been discovered on Kauai, marking the insect’s first confirmed detection outside Oahu since its arrival in Hawaii almost 10 years ago. and 5) only occurrences collected in Hawaii by the CRB response team.The invasive insect has decimated the Pacific’s coconut palm populations. This approach was applied to different subsets of the available CRB occurrence data including: 1) all available global data (excluding Hawaii) 2) only occurrences within CRB's native range 3) only occurrences in the species non-native range (excluding Hawaii) 4) only occurrences in the species insular non-native range (excluding Hawaii). This CRB habitat suitability was calculated using a simple bioclim approach where suitability values reflect the proximity of a given location on a map to the median climatic condition across the occurrences considered. This dataset simply describes the suitability of the Hawaiian landscape to CRB spread based on climatic conditions (using mean annual temperature and precipitation) of global and local species occurrences. As this invasive is found on the island of Oahu primarily at lower elevations, there are concerns about the species spreading towards high value native habitats at higher elevations and/or to other islands across the state. The arrival of the coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB, Oryctes rhinoceros) in Hawaii poses serious threats to endemic palm species, crop species and iconic palm trees across the archipelago.
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