| This story has been corrected. See below. |
State invasive species officials are looking at using Australian dogs trained to sniff out little fire ants to help curb the invasion of the hard-biting species on Oahu and other islands.
Teya Penniman, manager of the Maui Invasive Species Committee, said plans are in the works to bring the trained dogs and their handlers to the islands to conduct an assessment for Oahu, Maui and Hawaii island, where little fire ants have been found.
She said the dogs might be cross-trained to also detect the presence of coqui frogs, another invasive species that threatens the native environment.
The state Department of Agriculture once used dogs to detect invasive species at Hawaii airports and harbors, but the program was eliminated in 2009 due to budget cuts.
A proposal in the Legislature, House Bill 2469, would appropriate unspecified funds aimed at turning back the invasion of little fire ants, including money for trained dogs.
The little fire ant, copper-colored and about one-sixteenth of an inch long, arrived on Hawaii island about 15 years ago, infesting crops on the ground and in trees, biting agricultural workers and blinding cats and dogs stung in the eyes.
Little fire ants were discovered by a Maui resident Dec. 23 on the log of a Hawaiian tree fern, or hapuu, purchased at a garden shop at a big-box store.
The hapuu logs, sold on Maui and Oahu, were eventually traced to a nursery on Hawaii island that had harvested them from a forest infested with little fire ants, the state said.
"We have to focus on the nurseries. We’re not regulating them properly to screen things out," said Steven Montgomery, an entomologist.
Neil Reimer, the acting administrator of the state Plant Industry Division, said he cannot say with confidence that based on the hapuu logs investigation, there are no fire ants on Oahu.
Reimer said the big-box store sold more than 1,000 logs.
He said investigators don’t know the location of all the logs and how far back the logs were infested.
Reimer said Hawaii agricultural officials are reviewing inspection policies, with the intent of giving the state Department of Agriculture more authority to control the interisland transport of plants and plant materials.
Information about identifying and reporting little fire ants can be obtained visiting hdoa.hawaii.gov/pi/ main/lfainfo.
CORRECTION
State invasive species officials say they may meet with Australian trainers about whether using scent-detecting dogs could help Hawaii’s fight against little fire ants. If such a program is started, they say, it could take up to six months before the dogs are used for that purpose. A Page B1 story on Feb. 22 said officials hope that the dogs and their handlers would be working in Hawaii in April. Also, House Bill 2469 would appropriate unspecified funds for a pilot project to combat little fire ants, including a canine detection team. The story reported that the bill would provide $500,000 for the project.
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