WAIHEE - An invasive, stinging ant called the little fire ant has been found on a farm in Waihee, but it appears the infestation is confined to a half-acre site, the state Department of Agriculture reported Thursday afternoon.
The department is preparing an eradication program.
This is the first time the ant has been seen on Maui, although the ant species has been on the Big Island since at least 1999, the department said.
According to the department, the ants were found in Waihee on Oct. 2 after a state entomologist followed up on a call about ants stinging people on a farm. Ant species were collected and sent to Honolulu, where the ant was positively identified as a little fire ant, or Wasmannia auropunctata, on Oct. 5.
The department's entomologist and two plant quarantine inspectors went to Waihee Elementary School on Oct. 6, but they found no little fire ants there. More surveys in the area from Oct. 7 through Tuesday determined that the infestation site was confined to about a half acre on the farm property, officials said.
The surrounding area includes macadamia nut fields and other private property.
The ants measure about 1/16th of an inch and can deliver a powerful sting, leaving large red welts. The sting also can cause blindness in pets. The ants are pale orange and move slowly, officials said.
The pest can build up large colonies on the ground and in trees as well as other vegetation. The ants can completely overrun a property, department officials said.
The Agriculture Department is working with the farm property owner to eradicate the ant colony. Officials are using two types of ant baits and restricting the movement of infested material off and within the property.
Entomologists reported that judging by the size of the ant colony, the fire ants may have been at the Waihee site for about a year.
The Agriculture Department also is trying to determine where the ants came from and whether they might have been moved elsewhere on the island.
The department has been conducting surveys for the ant throughout Maui, but officials will ramp up their efforts by training Maui County field crews and workers with the Maui Invasive Species Committee about the stinging ant and how to conduct surveys to search for it.
MISC has received funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct the surveys.
For more information on the little fire ant, go online to hawaii.gov/hdoa/pi/ppc/npa-1/npa99-02-lfireant.pdf.
