Little Fire Ant and CRB Awareness

Kaua'i friends, I want to take the opportunity to talk about a serious issue we are facing on our island. Landscape and nursery industry people are seeing a concerning rise in invasive pests on our island. The Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle has already infested multiple areas after first being spotted on island a year ago. The Little Fire Ants are popping up around the island at an alarming rate. And the Kaua'i Invasive Species Committee is urging us and other businesses to inform our customers of this issue.

As a precaution, we have completely stopped importing plants from other islands. CRB is a known issue on Oahu and LFA have been plaguing the Big Island for decades. We are not taking the risk of importing from these islands when we know there's a possibility of these pests coming over here in imported plants. Unfortunately, we can't stop other businesses from importing from these high-risk places. That's why we are encouraging our customers to test their plants for Little Fire Ants and be vigilant of the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle. CRB are known to nest their larvae in green waste and compost piles and can also be found in bagged soil products you can buy at big box stores.

We have LFA test kits here at the nursery that you can take home with you to test your plants. And if you have Coconut trees or other at-risk palms on your property, you can request a CRB trap from KISC at 808-821-1490. Report any pest sightings to KISC or the Hawaii Department of Agriculture. Call 808-643-PEST to report CRB in your area. You can find more information about where CRB have been reported on Kaua'i HERE. And for more information visit KISC ONLINE. 

Help us to be vigilant of these pests and voice your concerns to the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture. Mahalo, Serina & the Seascapes Crew.

 
Visit the Seascapes Nursery ONLINE for more information.