coconut rhinoceros beetle impact in hawaii

#Coconut rhinoceros beetle impact in hawaii trial#

Matthew “Bo” Boheler realized there was something in one of the coconut rhinoceros beetle traps on Wheeler, even before the natural resources staff showed up to check on it. They are a pest of palm trees, especially coconut palms.įor the past 8 years, natural resources staff has checked traps on Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Army Airfield every month and has not come across any coconut rhinoceros beetles. Have you seen these large black traps with buckets hanging from trees? They are traps designed to catch invasive coconut rhinoceros beetles.Ĭoconut rhinoceros beetles are thought to have arrived on O’ahu through an accidental introduction from Guam in late 2013. Army Garrison Hawaii's Army Natural Resources Program, was surprised when she reached into an insect trap at the Wheeler Saddle Club and found three coconut rhinoceros beetles. WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii - On a recent day of monitoring, Stephanie Joe, invertebrate and forest pest invasive species biologist with U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii Natural Resources Program) VIEW ORIGINAL Traps are installed all around Oahu including on Army installations, and use pheromones as a lure to attract adult coconut rhinoceros beetles.

Army Garrison Hawaii Natural Resources Program) VIEW ORIGINAL 3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption –Ī coconut rhinoceros beetle trap installed at the Wheeler Saddle Club. Boheler, an Air Force veteran, has horses at the stables and helped eliminate a mulch pile, which was a breeding ground for coconut rhinoceros beetles. Matthew “Bo” Boheler holding a coconut rhinoceros beetle at the Wheeler Stables. Army Garrison Hawaii Natural Resources Program) VIEW ORIGINAL 2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Results suggest that addition of UV LED light sources to pheromone traps could improve detection trapping of CRB and that reduction of pheromone release rate could extend service life of lures without changing capture rate.Aaron Pila from the garrison’s Natural Resources Program shows off coconut rhinoceros beetle larvae (left) found in an off-post mulch pile and a coconut rhinoceros beetle adult (right) found in an off-post trap. Further, when linear regression analyses of CRB trap capture rate as a function of pheromone release rate were conducted for traps with and without UV LEDs separately, only a very weak relationship between trap capture and oryctalure release rate was observed and only when a UV LED was present. Reduction in oryctalure release rate by up to an order of magnitude did not significantly change CRB capture rate. Addition of UV LED light sources to pheromone traps significantly increased trap catch by 2.85 times. Two modifications were tested, 1) addition of ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UV LEDs), and 2) reduction of pheromone release rate.

#Coconut rhinoceros beetle impact in hawaii trial#

A field trial was performed at six locations on Guam to test potential improvements to standard CRB pheromone trapping with oryctalure (ethyl 4-methyloctanoate). CRB populations are typically controlled with a combination of biocontrol, pheromone traps, and breeding site removal. CRB-G is apparently resistant to Oryctes rhinoceros nudivirus, the preferred biocontrol agent for this pest. The CRB population on Guam is genetically different from other populations in Asia and the Pacific, and is considered a new invasive biotype (termed CRB-G). CRB was found on Guam in 2007 and, despite suppression efforts, has subsequently spread across the island. Coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB), Oryctes rhinoceros L., is a serious pest of coconut and oil palms throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific.