invasive species

Little fire ant infestations continue to concern the state. In response, the state Department of Agriculture has launched a program to eradicate these invasive pests across Hawaiʻi.

Lawmakers nixed a proposal to move the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council from under the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. Local conservation advocates and invasive species experts opposed moving HISC from the start.

As measures to manage pests continue to move through this session, state officials are urging lawmakers to also provide the necessary resources to carry them out.

The University of Hawaiʻi this week announced that a recent survey of the area turned up just one ant — only a year after dozens of houses in the Lanikai loop and beach areas were found to be harboring the invasive pest.

A small parasitic fly listens to the mating song of the Pacific field cricket to track the insects down. As these crickets have evolved different songs to escape the fly, it seems the fly has been able to adapt. The Conversation talked to University of Denver behavioral ecologist Robin Tinghitella about her research.

Workers on Guam who have kept the invasive brown tree snake out of Hawaiʻi were recently spared from losing their jobs in a federal cut — but are now being forced from the facilities where they work.

Crews are surveying the area around Kona airport after three adult coconut rhinoceros beetles were found in traps last week. One of the invasive beetles was found on March 3 at the airport, and two others were found in a trap less than a mile away.

A new, 30-acre infestation of little fire ants in Hauʻula has prompted a renewed call for better invasive species management in Hawaiʻi. Last week, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources closed a part of the Hauʻula Forest Reserve on Oʻahu to eradicate the ants.

Federal spending cuts and firings have already been felt locally, and it's becoming clear that there’s another impact they could have. HPR's Mark Ladao reports on the battle to keep invasive species out of Hawaiʻi.

A suite of food and biosecurity measures in the House just passed through the Committee on Finance, the last step before crossing into the Senate.