Invasive little fire ants are persistently turning up in bananas at Hawai'i's Kualoa Ranch. The ranch has significantly reduced the infestation without fully resolving the problem.
The ants can still harm food crops even after their population sharply declined.
Here's what to know
Residents across Hawai'i are being encouraged to help officials track invasive fire ants. The state's Department of Land and Natural Resources chose October for its "Stop the Ant" awareness campaign, according to Hawai'i Public Radio.
The Oct. 26 broadcast of HPR's The Conversation included an account of Kualoa Ranch's continuing struggle from Taylor Kellerman, the ranch's manager of diversified agriculture and land stewardship. At the ranch, Kellerman oversees diversified agriculture and land stewardship.
The ranch's control efforts address a little fire ant problem that emerged in 2019. Since then, Kualoa Ranch said its control efforts have reduced the area where the ants are active by about 90%.
More background
"We've started to find them in our bananas," Kellerman said, per Hawai'i Public Radio.
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Beyond threatening crops, little fire ants deliver a nasty sting as they spread through communities in Hawai'i.
For Kellerman, protecting both agriculture and the traditional Hawaiian landscape is a priority. The remaining infestation puts both at risk.
What can be done?
Ant samples from residents' properties can help officials monitor and manage the populations. According to HPR, the Department of Land and Natural Resources is asking residents to collect and submit those samples.
Residents can get ant collection kits at no cost through the Stop the Ant campaign.
The campaign's website, StoptheAnt.org, also provides a dashboard mapping the spread of little fire ants throughout Hawai'i. Residents can use it to understand the reach of the infestation and to learn more about the campaign.
"It's not only defacing what we think of as historical traditional Hawai'i, but once they finish with those trees, our concern is obviously they're going to go after even more food crops," Kellerman said.
Where can I learn more?
Other communities are grappling with invasive pests, too.
• Bermuda spent nearly $67,000 responding to a rattlesnake scare and fire ants, without finding a snake.
• In Tennessee, stinging fire ants are pushing farther into the state, infesting 87 counties.
• At Detroit's airport, officials intercepted giant scale insects in another first-in-the-United-States pest catch.
• Guam is urging cargo, vehicle, and vessel inspections to keep brown tree snakes out of CNMI.
• In Samoa, native snail populations crashed after a flatworm was introduced to control invasive snails.
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