Dead coconut rhinoceros beetle found near Kahului Airport on Maui
A single dead adult coconut rhinoceros beetle was collected by the Maui Invasive Species Committee from a detection trap at the Kahului Airport late on the afternoon of April 1, 2026. No other CRB were detected in the other traps checked. The airport traps were previously checked on March 11, with no CRB detected at that time.
The traps are part of the statewide interagency Ports of Entry Monitoring Program (PoEM) housed at the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council. The PoEM program is a gap-filling program that supplements other biosecurity measures and is critical for early detection of key invasive species, such as CRB, at airports or harbors.
MISC staff immediately turned the specimen over to agriculture inspectors from the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity, Plant Quarantine Branch, who sent it to
Honolulu for official confirmation by the Plant Pest Control Branch. On Monday, April 6,
it was confirmed to be a female CRB.
CRB are not known to be established on Maui. This detection marks the third time CRB have been found on the island; the last finds were both in 2023, with no detections after an intensive multiagency response. The previous detections were live larvae in the crown of a dead palm and a dead adult found in a bag of soil at the point of sale. Host material in both cases was destroyed by HDAB staff.
On April 2, 2026, under the guidance of HDAB staff based on Maui, personnel from MISC and HDAB conducted surveys in the area looking for sites that may harbor CRB such as compost piles and decaying coconut material. These efforts are continuing this week, in addition to deploying additional detection traps in the area surrounding the CRB detection. Surrounding palms will also be surveyed for feeding damage.
All efforts are in coordination with the interagency Maui CRB Working Group involving HDAB, MISC, the County of Maui Departments of Agriculture and Department of Environmental Management, Division of Environmental Protection & Sustainability as well as statewide partners at CRB Response, HISC, and Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Residents, businesses and landowners in a two-mile radius from Kahului Airport are asked to check coconut palms or other large palm species for possible signs of CRB feeding damage and to identify and report piles of green waste that could harbor CRB. Residents should also be vigilant when purchasing or moving mulch, compost and soil products, as well as to avoid purchasing bags with damaged packaging or holes, as they could be infested with CRB.
Adult CRBs damage palm fronds as they bore into a palm to feed; however, it can take months before damage to palm fronds is visible. Because adult CRBs pose a direct threat to local food security, it is critical to detect CRBs as early as possible, should they be present elsewhere on Maui.
With early detection, residents can avoid islandwide infestation and prevent long-term economic and agricultural damage. Go to the CRB Response website at: https://www.crbhawaii.org/ to learn more about how to detect the signs of CRB damage and how to identify CRB life stages.
The Maui CRB Working Group urges Maui residents to do the following:
- Limit green waste movement as an extra protective measure.
- Check all compost piles and decaying coconut material for beetle larvae. CRB can be
recognizable by their large size, up to 4 inches in length. - Collect any suspected larvae in a completely sealed hard-sided container, such as a
glass jar, with host material. - Do not dispose of larvae until identification has been confirmed. The Oriental flower
beetle is a widespread pest and has similar larvae. - Photograph/video and report any feeding damage (appearing as V-shaped cuts on palm
fronds) as soon as detected to 643PEST.org.
Feeding damage, visible as V-shaped cuts on palm fronds, can be photographed and reported
to 643PEST.org. Reports can also be made by phone to the state’s toll-free Pest Hotline at
808-643-PEST (7378).
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