Department of Agriculture

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NR14-17
July 9, 2014

Second Buffer Zone Created

HONOLULU — Another adult coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB) has been found further west on Oahu at Campbell Industrial Park. The lone CRB was found Monday in a survey trap set in the industrial park and its identification confirmed yesterday. This is the farthest west that a CRB has been found and due to its location, a second two-mile buffer zone has been created in the industrial area.

On May 21, a male coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB) was found in a trap at Barbers Point. Until that time, that was the farthest west that a CRB has been found on Oahu since it was first detected in December 2013.  At that time, the buffer zone was extended by one one mile west and increased the total buffer zone by 9 square miles. The majority of the CRB detections remain within the two-mile buffer zone with the golf course at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPH-H) as the center.

Traps will be deployed in higher density in the new buffer zone. Additional surveys for breeding sites and damage to coconut trees will also be conducted.

Since CRB was first detected, eradication crews have set about 1,360 panel traps all over Oahu and surveyed more than 66,300 palm trees and 166 mulch sites. About 540 adult beetles, 600 larvae and 16 pupae have been found on Oahu.

A multi-agency group has been working under the Incident Command System to manage this eradication program. Agencies involved include:  the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Hawaii Department of Agriculture, Dept. of Land and Natural Resources, UH-College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, Oahu Invasive Species Committee and others.

Suspected CRB should be reported to the state’s toll-free PEST HOTLINE – 643-PEST (7378).For updated information on CRB in Hawaii, go to the HDOA website at:  https://hdoa.hawaii.gov/pi/main/crb/

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