No coconut rhinoceros beetles have been detected in East Hawaii, but surveillance efforts are ramping up as the invasive pest remains active in West Hawaii.
“It’s just a matter of luck that we got it on the west side and not the east side,” Franny Brewer, program manager for the Big Island Invasive Species Committee, told the Tribune-Herald. “If it gets to the east side, then we are in a much more dire situation.”
On October 14, the committee conducted a low-altitude helicopter flight over the Kona Palisades area in partnership with the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Spatial Data and Visualization Lab and Hawaii County. The purpose was to gather aerial imagery to identify palms showing signs of beetle damage and to locate unmanaged green waste piles that could serve as breeding grounds.
Early results show numerous green waste piles in open or undeveloped areas, often away from private property or public roads. “We saw a lot of piles of green waste that are unmanaged,” Brewer said. “They’re probably just old green waste that was dumped there a long time ago because folks think, it’s the tropics, it’s going to biodegrade, it will be fine and unfortunately that now becomes a problem.”
The team will use GPS data from the flight to pinpoint and inspect these sites more closely in the coming weeks.
The beetle was first detected on the Big Island in October 2023. Since then, 123 beetles have been found, all in West Hawaii. One dead beetle was intercepted in Hilo last year in a shipment from Oahu, but no live beetles have been discovered in East Hawaii.
Statewide surveillance for the pest began in 2017. Despite those efforts, the beetle has now reached every major Hawaiian island except Lanai and Niihau. It is believed to have arrived from Guam.
Before 2022, there were no statewide regulations requiring treatment or containment of materials that might carry the beetle, such as green waste or palm products. As a result, infestations on Oahu became severe. Residents there have reported finding larvae in container plants and landscape debris around their homes.
In October 2024, the state Department of Agriculture enacted an interim rule restricting the movement of high-risk materials from infested areas to other parts of the state. That rule has since expired.
On the Big Island, the committee is now working to install additional monitoring traps in areas above the Kona airport. Residents in that region can request a free trap.
Coconut rhinoceros beetles pose a serious threat to Hawaii’s palm trees. These invasive beetles bore into the crowns of palms to feed on sap, damaging fronds and growth points. This can lead to the death of the trees and create safety hazards.
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