The little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata, is established on the big island. This little bugger stings, and you can hardly even see it! If it can spread, it is a menacing threat to the native animals, especially insects, found only in the Hawaiian Islands and nowhere else in the world. We would get rid of it, but we do not know where it is! It could be almost anywhere on Hawai`i Island, maybe even on the other islands, perhaps on Oahu or Maui. We cannot take action until we know where it is.

K-12 students and teachers have been looking. Over 500 students from 5 big island schools have looked in their back yards for this and other ants. Students discovered one new population of the little fire ant (it was zapped!), and two new species never before found in the islands! Thank you, students! View maps with collection data results.

Coming soon, you or your community or school group can register as a participant of AntWatch Hawai`i. Help us to look for this unwanted ant species. We can also keep a lookout for any new species that pose an even greater threat to our health, economy and lifestyle for years to come. The red imported fire ant currently ravages the Southeatern United States with more than $1 billion dollars in medical, agricultural, and management costs each year. Needless to say, we do not want the red imported fire ant in Hawai`i, or countless other new pests.

We must be on the watch.