Eradication Strawberry Guava (leaf gall)

[Guest]

Kim -

I don't doubt that you know what you are talking about. My wife works with the USDA and I hear about a lot of pests etc.

What I am worried about is that Tectococcus Ovatus has not been field tested here in Hawaii, yet we are talking about releasing it.

Brazil is not Hawaii!

I'm very open to reason... and I love science.... but science is not a "science" w/out proven field tests. This bug has not been introduced to Hawaii and we truly don't know what else it might attack besides the S.G.

Who will be held responsible?

Do you realize what family the Strawberry Guava tree is related too that they don't have in Brazil? What guarantee that this bug wouldn't attack other related trees?

A quick google search found this letter to the editor which defuses some arguments.



-------
Lower your expectations and be ready for anything.

[kimtavares]

The way I deal with it is that I don't think the critter will move as fast as the waiawi is already moving, so jumping to some other species is not really the issue. If it prefers waiawi and won't go on ohia, our dominant forest tree, or to common guava, the most logical ag-related fear, then it's benefits seem to outweigh any yet-unfound potential drawbacks. I don't know the science, I just know that the scientists are dedicated to maintaining a healthy environment for endangered species. If they are willing to lay their reps and retirement plans on the line for this, I think they believe it is safe.

Is the argument you make then, to do a single release site for a certain period of time, as the field test? And, is there something wrong with the site that's being proposed?

Mahalo,
Kim

[gtill]

Kim, has the bug been tested on Volcano Hwy between Hirano Store and Mountain View? In spots on the roadside?

[Guest]

quote:

---

Originally posted by kimtavares


You mentioned Coqui frogs earlier, I control them too. Sure, it's after the fact, but why do you assume HDOA is to blame?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by kimtavares

...

That was "yester-year", over a hundred years ago. I think we should give our federal and state departments of agriculture a little more credit and a lot of thanks, for the many years of careful, quarantined research that has gone on, ...

---

[:p][:p][:p]


So is it yester-year... or today?

Just curious though and I'm glad your willing to *edit* answer questions Ms. Tavares.

I appreciate your educated answers to the questions that are posted.

I obviously have some distrust for anything most officials tell me... because I have been an "official" myself and know you have to talk the talk just to get things done at times.

-------
Lower your expectations and be ready for anything.

[kimtavares]

gtill -

I am not 100% in the loop with these folks, my knowledge is limited and somewhat outdated. However, if you're wondering about those little white bug stations along the highway, NO they are not for this scale insect.

Those are traps to find "Stinging Nettle Caterpillars". These nasty creatures pack a painful punch if you happen to touch one. Look them up at the HDOA web page for pest alerts. They arrived un-noticed to this island and began showing up a few years ago in Hilo. They are voracious eaters, and enjoy ti leaves and a number of other things.

The results of those traps (last I heard) was that the caterpillar was found around Hirano's store, but no higher. They suspect it doesn't like the cooler, wetter climate. Let's hope that's right, and thanks for askin'...

[kimtavares]

Sure thing, Damon. If I have the answers, I'll share them.

What is common between the Coqui and the "SGS" (strawberry guava scale)? I don't understand the analogy. Coqui were not intentionally introduced. They just slipped past the inspection process, and behaved in a tolerable way for the first decade or so. Funding was scarce and mostly used to keep brown tree snakes out of Hawaii. Who'd argue with that?

That's about when it became an obvious problem, and there were no real answers yet. Researchers tested many off-the-shelf products that could be legally used immediately, but nothing really panned out. Before Coqui began to infest the higher elevations, and before all of lower Puna, Hilo and Kona became saturated, caffeine was found to work. Unfortunately, it was never approved for general use, and so research had to go back to the drawing board, and that's where we lost the game ...

Now we know what works, what's cheap, etcetera, but it's too late. Coqui funds are drying up, and nobody will spend that money out of pocket to keep them at bay on a maintenance schedule. Once invasive species go beyond budgets for labor and (controversial) chemicals, a biological control agent is necessary. There are no native amphibians in Hawaii, so there is less need to worry about a frog bio-control crossing over to something related.

[rbakker]

In Thursday's Tribune Herald (page A6):
Setting the record straight
The USDA has done tests in Hawaii that indicate the Brazilian scale insect it proposes to release to control strawberry guava growth will not attack the common guava plant. A story published on Monday incorrectly stated that tests on the common guava were done only in Brazil.

[rbakker]

I haven't seen first hand what strawberry guava is doing to the native forests but it sure is taking over my back yard. It's hard work cutting it down (and it grows back astonishingly fast from the stumps) but well worth it because the coqui seem to prefer it and the guavas attract clouds of fruit flies which the coqui may well be snacking on.

I also heard that the hiker who had to be rescued by helicopter near the prison a week or two ago couldn't make his own way out because he was surrounded by guava trees!

[waynesb]

kimtavares: Let me suggest http://tinyurl.com if you ever need to post another long link.

[kimtavares]

Thank you all for the great discussion.

Thank you also to waynesb - I will check out tinyurl, sorry!

Until the next crisis, I'm back to work.

Mahalo!
Kim