Entomology

Entomology

American Samoa is blessed with a tropical climate that's as favorable to many insect pests as it is to people. The American Samoa Community College entomology laboratory provides research and extension services to help the community protect plant health, human health, and the fragile island environment.

Projects and Programs

• Community-based, targeted source reduction for control of mosquito vectors of filariasis and dengue and xenomonitoring to support the American Samoa Department of Health’s filariasis elimination program

• Biological control of Seychelles scale insect in the Manu’a Islands and urbicola scale on Rose Island

• Plant clinic, operated jointly with the ASCC plant pathology and horticulture labs, providing diagnoses and recommendations for specific pest problems; member of National Plant Diagnostic Network

• Exotic pest detection surveys, including exotic fruit fly, ant, and citrus and coconut pest surveys with the American Samoa Department of Agriculture

• Endemic Samoan swallowtail butterfly conservation with the American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Park of American Samoa

• Facilitating research experiences for high school students and undergraduates with the American Samoa Department of Education and the University of Hawai’i through the Short-Term Research Experience to Unlock Potential (STEP-UP) program of the National Institutes of Health’s Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the American Samoa science fair and science symposium

• Survey and control of invasive ants, focusing primarily on the recently arrived little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata

• Collaboration with American Samoa Department of Agriculture in support of plant quarantine and biosecurity

• Technical support for apiculture and removal of pest honey bees