KAHULUI, Maui — Maui County has a state entomologist again after the position was lost to budget cuts in 2009. KAHULUI, Maui — Maui County has a state entomologist again after the position was lost to budget cuts in 2009.
KAHULUI, Maui — Maui County has a state entomologist again after the position was lost to budget cuts in 2009.
Mach Fukada has been picking up where he left off three years ago because the state Department of Agriculture’s plant pest control branch deemed it a priority to have someone searching for invasive bugs that could wreak havoc on Hawaii’s delicate ecosystem.
During his absence, entomologists from neighbor islands traveled to Maui periodically to do only the critical work, said department spokeswoman Janelle Saneishi.
“We are very thankful that an entomologist has been assigned back to Maui,” Warren Watanabe, executive director of the Maui County Farm Bureau, said of Fukada’s return.
Having an entomologist on the island means rapid diagnosis can be possible when new pests are suspected, he said. “Insects multiply rapidly, and the capacity to diagnose the risk can mean control, or infestations beyond control.”
Since returning to his position last month, Fukada has been searching for the banded cucumber beetle that he found by accident before he lost his job. The beetles probably came to Hawaii from South or Central America, he said. The larvae feed on roots of plants such as sweet potatoes and corn, while the adults feeds on crops such as beans, peppers, eggplant, cotton and okra.
But now in addition to his bug duties, Fukada must also work on chemical and mechanical control of weeds and other pests because the position that handled those duties was cut and has not been restored.
He has collected and sent for testing some invasive fireweed that is toxic to cattle and other livestock. He’s also been studying a mealybug that is attacking protea plants.
Fukada said he went into entomology because he thought it came with job security because “there would always be a new pest coming in.”
