Hawaii Agriculture | Tag Archives: fire ants

Ant infestation covers 4 acres in Waimanalo

Posted on April 16, 2014 by bigwave Posted in General Ag News and Notes, Invasive Species Leave a comment

HONOLULU — An extensive survey of an area in Waimanalo has determined approximately 4 acres are infested with little fire ants, tiny invasive ants that can inflict painful stings. Crews surveyed more than 50 acres from Kumuhau Street to Mahailua Street in Waimanalo and determined that the infestation area is on state land and in mulch areas located outside nurseries in that area. Little fire ants were detected previously on hapuu from Hawaii Island at a few nurseries and garden shops earlier this year, but those areas were treated and are now clear of little fire ants.

Survey operations were headed by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture and involved several agencies including: the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawaii Ant Laboratory, Oahu Invasive Species Committee, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, Hawaii Invasive Species Council, The Nature Conservancy, University of Hawaii, City & County of Honolulu, and Hawaii National Guard.

Little fire ants have been found on Hawaii Island since 1999. In late December, the ant was detected on hapuu logs (Hawaiian fern) at retail stores on Maui and Oahu. Since its detection, Oahu and Maui nurseries have been surveyed. Five Oahu nurseries, three of which were in Waimanalo, were found to have small infestations of little fire ants, which were treated and are clear of the ants.

Ant infestation covers 4 acres in Waimanalo | West Hawaii Today

Measure in state Legislature targets alien little fire ants

Posted on February 13, 2014 by bigwave Posted in General Ag News and Notes, Invasive Species Leave a comment

A bill in the state House would provide $500,000 toward destroying little fire ants.
Of all the ants in all the world, Hawaii had to get bitten by this one.

Hawaii lawmakers on Monday advanced a bill aiming to study and kill the little fire ant, a hard-stinging pipsqueak that threatens the state’s economy and ecology.

House Bill 2469 would provide more than $500,000 toward coordinating efforts to corral and destroy the little fire ant. It includes money to pay for trained dogs to sniff out the tiny pests and for public outreach.

At 1/16th of an inch long, the copper-colored ant does not cut a formidable figure. But since it first landed on Hawaii island 15 years ago, possibly as a stowaway on a potted plant from Florida, the ant has spread on the Big Island and has popped up on Maui, Oahu and Kauai.

Of the perhaps 30,000 species of ants on Earth, only six are considered “really nasty,” said Cas Vanderwoude, the research manager of the Hawaii Ant Lab at the University of Hawaii. Of those six, he said, the little fire ant poses the greatest potential threat to Hawaii.

“Our lifestyle and climate just suit this animal down to a T,” he said. “If I was a little fire ant and wanted to go on vacation, I’d come to Hawaii.”

The ants have proved onerous for several reasons, Vanderwoude said. They live in trees, where they infest crops and bite agricultural workers. They also live on the ground, where they attack people and pets, perhaps partially blinding cats and dogs by stinging their eyes. A single square foot of infested ground can contain 2,000 ants.

The ants travel between islands by hitching rides on crops and propagated plants. That threatens to undermine agricultural exchange among the islands and beyond. The ants also drive away insects, birds, lizards and mammals that prey on other pest insects, further harming crops. Continue reading→

The incredible floating fire ant

Posted on April 25, 2011 by bigwave Posted in General Ag News and Notes, Invasive Species Leave a comment

By Brian Vastag,

Congress — and perhaps the rest of us — could learn a thing or two about teamwork from Solenopsis invicta, the dreaded fire ant.

When in danger of drowning, a colony of the critters — thousands of them — will save themselves by joining forces and forming a raft. They pile together and lock legs and jaws. So bound, an ant raft can survive for months.

Engineers studying animal oddities now report that together, the ants aren’t just stronger. They’re floatier. Airtight, even.

“Water does not penetrate the raft,” said Nathan Mlot, a mechanical engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology and lead author of the ant-raft report published in Monday’s Proceedings of the National Academies. Even the bottom layer of ants stays dry, he said.

Engineers, Mlot went on to explain, think the rafting behavior might aid the quest for new waterproof materials and offer lessons for robotics research. Continue reading→

Admired ag inspector turns in his badge

Posted on October 28, 2010 by bigwave Posted in Christmas Tree, General Ag News and Notes, Invasive Species Leave a comment

After 30 years of protecting native animals and plants, the head of Hawaii’s agricultural inspection operation leaves behind a short-handed and beleaguered team today, worried that invading species are slipping into the islands.

“Shipments are backed up but are still being inspected. That’s the good part,” said Domingo Cravalho Jr., who is retiring as inspection and compliance section chief for the state Department of Agriculture. “Because of the lack of resources and lack of inspectors and the reduction in the amount of good inspections, things are getting through. …

“It’s overwhelming at times and some individuals may be overlooking things or bypassing things. Under the circumstances, we just don’t have enough eyes and ears out there.” Continue reading→

Little fire ant infestation eradicated

Posted on October 22, 2010 by bigwave Posted in General Ag News and Notes, Invasive Species Leave a comment

WAILUKU – An infestation of little fire ants on Maui has been eradicated, the state Department of Agriculture announced Thursday.

The department credited the success to its rapid response and the development of innovative pest control methods.

The ants (Wasmannia auropunctata) can deliver a painful sting. They were discovered in October on a Waihee farm, and the Agriculture Department launched what it said was an “aggressive response to survey, contain and treat the infestation.”

The department obtained a special permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use an experimental ant bait developed by scientist Cas Vanderwoude, with the Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

The new bait provided an alternative to ground treatments to combat the pest, and it allowed the ants to be attacked in trees and vegetation where they nest. The Waihee area had been treated monthly with the ant bait and since February no little fire ants have been detected at the site of the infestation. Continue reading→

Agricultural inspector layoffs slammed – The Maui News

Posted on September 5, 2009 by bigwave Posted in General Ag News and Notes Leave a comment

KAHULUI – Environmentalists and farmers lashed out Thursday night at the announced layoffs of state agricultural inspectors, arguing that the move planned by the Lingle administration would uproot efforts to preserve the island’s agricultural industry and pristine environment.
Close to 100 people turned out at a Senate Ad Hoc Committee meeting held in the Maui Waena Intermediate School cafeteria. The crowd applauded those who spoke against the layoffs, some even attacking Gov. Linda Lingle.

Continue reading→

Inspector layoffs may mean near ‘shutdown’ of imports – The Maui News

Posted on August 30, 2009 by bigwave Posted in General Ag News and Notes Leave a comment

Positions targeted to balance state budget

By ILIMA LOOMIS, Staff Writer
POSTED: August 30, 2009

PUKALANI – Plant quarantine officials said last week that laying off more than half the state’s agricultural inspectors would create such a logjam at Hawaii ports that it could cause shortages similar to those seen during shipping strikes.

Carol Okada, manager of the Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s Plant Quarantine Branch, said she has not been able to develop a plan for how her department will continue its core functions after it loses 52 employees, 50 of them inspectors, to layoffs planned for November.

She said food shipments to Maui and the other Neighbor Islands, which because of staff shortages would now have to be routed through Honolulu for inspection, would have to sit on the docks until the state’s remaining inspectors could look at them, with the risk that some food could spoil in the unchilled containers.

Continue reading→

Hawaii growers urged to clean up exports-The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on August 28, 2009 by bigwave Posted in General Ag News and Notes Leave a comment

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai’i’s $125 million agricultural export industry could be threatened by hitchhiking insects and other pests found on fresh flower, foliage and fruit shipments arriving in California.

Budget cuts have left California with fewer inspectors and made that state more prone to slap sanctions on importers when pests are discovered. Hawai’i may also lose inspectors if the state lays off workers in November as planned to balance its budget.

Five key agricultural officials sent a warning letter this month to hundreds of Hawai’i growers and shippers who sell flowers, foliage, herbs, vegetables, potted nursery products and fruit, alerting them to the potential risk of not cleaning up their shipments.

"Anyone that currently ships to California can be the ‘last straw’ that triggers the decision by California to impose severe restrictions on the movement of all products from Hawai’i into the California market," the letter states.

Continue reading→

Layoffs could leave island vulnerable to alien species – Mauinews.com

Posted on August 9, 2009 by bigwave Posted in General Ag News and Notes, Invasive Species Leave a comment

Should the layoffs go forward in November as planned by Gov. Linda Lingle, not all Maui-based inspectors will disappear, according to Carol Okada, manager of the Plant Quarantine Bureau in the state Department of Agriculture.

There are inspectors in 10 positions covered by special funds who will not be affected, including six funded by the state Department of Transportation. But the six positions paid out of the state’s general fund are on the budget-cutting hit list.

Anna Mae Shishido, Maui County supervisor of the Maui Plant Quarantine Branch, wrote a letter expressing her concern about the impact of the layoffs to two Maui lawmakers – state Sen. J. Kalani English and Rep. Joe Souki.

She said the Transportation Department’s special fund specifies that the six inspectors it pays for would work at the Kahului Airport – which means they wouldn’t do maritime inspections.

As a result, Matson and other containers carrying produce, animal feed and other agricultural material would need to go to Honolulu first for inspection, Shishido said. Diverting that cargo to Oahu would mean extra handling of Maui-bound containers, adding delays and costs for consumers.

The layoffs would also mean that more than two dozen certified nurseries on Maui would no longer be able to self-certify their plant shipments to other states because state inspectors would not be available to conduct semi-annual nursery re-certification inspections, she said.

Shishido said she was alarmed about the potential for infestations of alien species without maritime inspections on Maui.

"We anticipate increased infestations of stinging nettle caterpillars and coqui frogs on Maui and new infestations of little fire ants and the varroa mite, which have not been found here so far," she said. "The safeguards we have worked so hard to put in place will be drastically decreased or completely gone. Maui will be exposed."

Layoffs could leave island vulnerable to alien species – Mauinews.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Visitor’s Information – The Maui News