ARS | Publication request: Emerald Invasion

Submitted to: Video
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: March 3, 2003
Publication Date: N/A
Reprint URL: http://ct.excelcomm.com/

Technical Abstract: A new scarab pest called the Midway emerald beetle was found damaging fruit crops and bothering tourists on the two main islands which make up the Midway Atoll, northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands. This beetle was also a serius threat to be transported to Hawaii and the mainland of the United States. A team of entomologists from the USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Wooster, OH, the University of Florida at Homestead, and the Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in Hawaii were dispatched to help solve the problems caused by this beetle. An integrated pest management plan was designed to attack the beetles on three different fronts. Introduced ironwood trees, which were providing larval habitat, were cut down and removed from much of the islands. A chemical insecticide, Mach2, was dispersed to locations with high larval populations. An attractant for the emerald beetles was identified and developed to remove adult beetles from the population. This video documents the damage from the emerald beetle, and the cooperative effort to solve this problem.