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New restrictions are in place on the transport of certain palm trees and green waste that may be infested with the coconut rhinoceros beetle.
The Hawaii Department of Agriculture last week issued an interim rule aimed at restricting movement of the beetle’s “host material” — trees, green waste, compost, mulch, trimmings, fruit and vegetative scraps and decaying stumps of palm and palm-related plants — on Oahu as well as from Oahu to neighbor islands.
The beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros) represents a serious threat to palm trees, primarily coconut palms, as adult beetles bore into crowns of palms to feed on tree sap, the department said in a news release.
First detected in 2013 at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, the beetle has since been found in West Oahu areas — from Maili to Pearl City and north to Kunia. Infestations have also been detected on the North Shore, from Mokuleia to Kahuku. More than 3,000 beetle traps have been placed throughout Oahu to detect infestations, the department said. Thus far, the infestation has been restricted to Oahu.
Among the restrictions, potential host material coming from quarantine areas must be completely enclosed or covered with a secure lid during transport to an approved green waste disposal site.
For more information, contact the state at (808) 679-5244 or email info@crbhawaii.org; go to CRB Response webpage at https://www.crbhawaii.org/; or the HDOA Plant Pest Control Branch New Pest Advisory at https://hdoa.hawaii.gov/pi/files/2013/01/npa-CRB-5-1-14.pdf.