Chemicals used successfully in Southeast Asia aren’t approved for use in the U.S. Officials suspect the beetle came to Hawaii in air cargo.Įntomologists still haven’t developed an effective pesticide to kill the beetle and its Vienna sausage-sized larvae. A more recent survey in 2006 of infested areas in Malaysia showed that beetles wiped out 67% of palm crops. Studies of Palau in the 1950s showed that half of all palms on the island were killed within 10 years of introduction. Pictures of beetle-ravaged groves in Guam show barren trunks jutting 40 feet out of the ground like giant twigs. The beetles are native to Southeast Asia and have spread throughout the Pacific. When a beetle bumps into the trap, it falls into the cup and can’t escape. The nocturnal beetles are attracted to the trap by a pheromone lure and the glow of a small solar-powered LED light. The pair continued on their rounds, checking their maps to find the traps, which resemble 4-foot-long black lanterns with a white plastic cup at the bottom. “I’ll be at the beach and find myself staring at coconut trees all afternoon,” Potter said. It takes a practiced eye to spot early damage on an otherwise healthy tree, and the habit can be hard to break off duty. “But now a lot of the coconut trees are just completely torn up. “When we first started coming out here six months ago, none of the trees were damaged,” Potter said. Less than 100 yards away, Potter spotted two more trees just starting to show damage. Most of the affected trees in this community have been tagged and are continually monitored. The pair scanned the tree tops for leaves that have been snipped in an inverted V-shape - a sign of beetle damage. The former military housing community is filled with coconut trees. On a recent Friday, team leaders Chad Goldstein and Zachary Potter headed out on their daily rounds to Iroquois Point, just across the harbor from beetle ground zero at Pearl Harbor.
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