Coconut Rhinoceros Beetles Found on Maui, Molokaʻi

A male coconut rhinoceros beetle was suspected to have been detected near Kaunakakai Harbor on Molokaʻi on Tuesday, which would be the first time one has been found on Molokaʻi, according to officials. The Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity says, based on photographs, the specimen from Molokaʻi is likely a coconut rhinoceros beetle and is being sent to Oʻahu for official confirmation. A single dead adult coconut rhinoceros beetle was collected by the Maui Invasive Species Committee from a detection trap at Kahului Airport on April 1, marking the first official sighting on Maui since November 2023.

Dean Matsukawa of the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity blamed the delay in notifying the public about the Maui detection on the recent departure of a public information officer and awaiting sign-off from partners. Wendy Manalo found coconut rhinoceros beetle larvae infesting a bag of Sta-Green brand soil she bought at a Lowe's Home Improvement store in Waialua, Oahu, last Thursday and reported the beetle larvae to Hawaii agricultural officials. A hole was found in the last bag of Sta-Green brand soil sold at the Lowe's store in Waipahu yesterday.

Kalani Lagoc, a manager at the Lowe's store in Waipahu, said the store receives reports of beetle larvae in soil bags roughly every two months. Employees at the Lowe's store checked around 30 other bags from the same pallet as Manalo's purchase for holes and did not find any, and further checked six or seven bags without finding larvae. The entire island of Oahu is considered infested by the coconut rhinoceros beetle.

The coconut rhinoceros beetle damages palm trees, bananas, sugarcane, kalo (taro), and other culturally important crops, and can fly up to 2 miles daily, according to experts. The coconut rhinoceros beetle was first detected in Hawaii in 2013 at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.