Coconut rhinoceros beetle find has Big Island residents vigilant

By Jeremy Lee

Click here for updates on this story

    WAIKOLOA VILLAGE, Hawaii (KITV) — On Hawaii Island, efforts have been underway to prevent the spread of the coconut rhinoceros beetle.

The invasive insect has been found in Waikoloa village several times since last October 2023.

Palm trees, threatened by the beetle, aren’t anywhere near the Waikoloa Dry Forest. Putting up traps seemed like a longshot, as the insect only travels a maximum of two miles.

Rob Yagi described to Island News how the trap functions.

“They’ll hit the plastic and have no grip. They slide down onto this white cup,” he said.

The trap worked. The bait lured in a pair of coconut rhinoceros beetles in and the two are now in Hilo, being kept alive for a very specific reason.

Yagi described the pair of beetles as being “on death’s door” when they were caught.

“When we originally found the two beetles in our trap, Big Island Invasive Species Committee asked that we keep them alive so that they could train their beetle-sniffing dogs,” Yagi explained.

The Big Island Invasive Species Committee is making traps available for free to individuals. Those on the westside can contact the Waikoloa Dry Forest Initiative directly to arrange picking up a trap.

Larger entities may purchase multiple traps. The non profit can be reached by email at wdfi@waikoloadryforest.org

“Anytime you respond to an invasive species speed is of the essence,” Franny Kinslow Brewer of Big Island Invasive Species Committee explained.

Community can also act as eyes on the ground to alert the committee of suspected larvae.

“We ask people to take really clear photographs. And if possible, to take video,” Kinslow Brewer explained. The experts can discern what type of larvae they are observing by the nature of the movements.

The Big island Invasive Species Committee told Island News they would rather be alerted by overcautious observers and sift through false positives, than not at all.

Hawaii’s native Pritchardia palm is particularly at risk.

“These palms are not resistant to this boring. These beetles make very huge boring holes. They chew on the growing spear of the palm,” Kinslow Brewer said, “When you look at Oahu, you are seeing entire landscapes that are wasted due to coconut rhinoceros beetle and that’s just in 10 years. That’s just one decade.”

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.