Virus to fight coconut rhinoceros beetle shows promising results
Honolulu Star-Advertiser••health
Key Points:
- Doctoral student Kristen Gaines at the University of Hawaii is testing a virus variant, oryctes rhinoceros nudivirus (OrNV), to kill the invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB) devastating Oahu’s palm trees, with preliminary results showing larvae mortality after infection.
- The virus, historically used in Pacific island nations to control CRB, is host-specific but requires careful testing in Hawaii due to concerns about its impact on native beetles like the Kauai stag beetle.
- Hawaii only recently obtained permits to test the virus due to a lack of containment facilities, and federal funding shifted from eradication to containment efforts, leading to the establishment of a secure lab for virus testing on larvae.
- Local landscapers report
