September is little
fire ant month at the Kaneohe Public Library.
The library is one of nine on Oahu where residents can pick
up fire ant test kits and drop off samples of dead ants for identification by
the Hawaii Department of Agriculture. The library is at 45-829 Kamehameha
Highway, next to the Kaneohe Police Station.
The library program is part of a month-long campaign called
Spot the Ant, Stop the Ant. It’s designed to raise awareness of the ant problem
among residents and to turn them into ant detectives.
Little fire ants are considered a major threat to the state.
Their stings are painful, they are aggressive invaders and they can damage farm
produce. The ants were discovered in our state in 1999 and on our island in
2013.
Agriculture officials spent a year treating known
infestations and say the ants are currently either eradicated or at undetectable
levels on Oahu. However, ants can continue to reach the island on shipments
from infested areas.
More information is available at the library and online.
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