Secretariat of the Pacific Community.

Recently, the health of coconut palms has come under severe threat. The Pacific Community (SPC), working with Pacific Island countries and territories, and development partners, is looking for ways to meet this threat before it devastates the hopes of economic progress in the region. In August of 2017 an alert was issued identifying a new danger to the Pacific, which is causing devastation to coconut palms and expanding rapidly across the region. The new threat comes from a longstanding adversary in the region: the rhinoceros beetle.

Solomon Islands Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.

USDA. APHIS. PPQ. CPHST. Identification Technology Program.

DOI. Office of Insular Affairs.

U.S. Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, Douglas W. Domenech announced $942,206 in fiscal year (FY) 2020 Coral Reef and Natural Resources Initiative grants to eradicate and control the spread of invasive species in the U.S. territories of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), as well as in the Republic of Palau, and Yap, in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Funding will be used to introduce biological control of coconut rhinoceros beetles, control and eradicate feral cats and monitor lizards, and destroy wild vines, all of which are disruptive to ecological systems and impacting communities and livelihoods in the islands.

United States Department of the Interior.

Interior Acting Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Nikolao Pula made available $409,885 to preserve natural and cultural resources and protect against invasive species on Guam. “We are especially pleased that Congress was able to provide some extra funding in FY 2017 to mitigate and control the coconut rhinoceros beetle and little fire ant on Guam,” said Pula. “All funding supports Governor Eddie Calvo’s efforts in protecting Guam’s natural resources now and for the future.”

USDA. APHIS. Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey. National Agricultural Pest Information System.

USDA. APHIS. PPQ. CPHST. Identification Technology Program.

ITP is pleased to announce the release of seven new screening aids for important Coleoptera and Lepidoptera pests. These were designed specifically to be used when examining traps or through visual inspection as part of surveys conducted by state cooperators for the APHIS PPQ Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) program. CAPS surveys help officials monitor and gather data about pests on high-risk hosts and commodities, including pests that may have been recently introduced to the United States. The new screening aids are for city longhorn beetle, Agrilus of concern, pinecone and bamboo longhorn beetles, tomato fruit borers, coconut rhinoceros beetles, spruce longhorn beetles, and velvet longhorn beetle. All of ITP's CAPS screening aids can be found on the ITP website and on the CAPS Resource and Collaboration site Screening Aids page.