University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa for more than a decade has been on the front lines of the battle against the invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle.
Researchers in the university’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience are now seeing progress in a promising weapon: viruses.
“Pathogens are being used, but viruses are being underutilized as far as I’m concerned,” said College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences researcher and virologist Mike Melzer. “I know we can find viruses that will have a really good impact on important target species that are pests in Hawaiʻi.”
A virus infects coconut rhinoceros beetles from the inside, weakening and killing them before they reach adulthood. Therefore, by targeting larvae, the virus can suppress beetle populations with time while minimizing harm to non-target species…