Maui County Report a Pest

How to collect and preserve a pest specimen

So you've found a Maui County priority pest species? Please use the Maui County Priority Pest List identification pages to help you ensure identify your pest. If the identification guide is not enough, you may want to bring a sample of your pest to one of the walk-in pest reporting locations for help with identification of a Maui County Priority Pest.

You can alternatively submit an image from your digital camera or cell phone for identification. Send your image to reportapest-maui@hawaii.edu or submit it via the online report form. You can also send images directly from your camera phone to grows96what@photos.flickr.com. Then they can be viewed at the Flickr Report A Pest Maui web page.

www.flickr.com Go to reportapestmaui's photostream

Use the instructions below to collect a plant, insect, animal, or pathogen sample that the experts can identify. Download and fill out the Maui County Pest Report Form  to accompany your sample.

Plant Collection
• Submit an image for identification to reportapest-maui@hawaii.edu or via the online report form. Whenever possible,
  • Include a ruler, penny, or dime, for size reference.
  • Include the growing tip end of the stem with seeds, leaves, and flowers in your image.
  • Images of flowers should be facing the center of the flower.
• Submit a physical sample to a walk-in location. Whenever possible,
  • Provide a 6-10 inch sample of growing tip end of the stem with seeds, leaves, and flowers if available.
  • Place the sample flat between a layer or two of dry newspaper or paper towel. Try to prevent excessive folding of the leaves and place flowers so that you are looking into the center of the flower. Do this while the sample is fresh!
  • Pack the wrapped bundle in plastic, preferably with a piece of cardboard to keep the sample flat.
  • Alternatively, fresh terrestrial plant samples may be placed directly into a plastic bag and refrigerated until it they are taken to a reporting facility.
  • Aquatic weed samples can be placed in plastic bag without newspaper.
  • Wrap whole fruit specimens in paper and store in an uncrushable container.
  • Package in sturdy crush-proof container and pack with additional paper to prevent shifting.
• Ensure that the package is well sealed. Don't spread the weed!

Insect Collection
• Submit an image for identification to reportapest-maui@hawaii.edu or via the online report form. Whenever possible,
  • Include a ruler, penny, or dime, for size reference.
  • Include plant damage associated with insect, if any
• Place insects in a noncrushable container such as a small medicine bottle or film canister.
• Tiny and/or soft-bodied specimens should be preserved in a small leakproof bottle or vial of rubbing alcohol or frozen in a ziplock bag. Do not submit insects in water or formaldehyde.
• Hard-bodied specimens can be submitted dry in a crush-proof container. Do not tape insects to paper or place them loose in envelopes.

Animal collection
• Submit an image for identification to reportapest-maui@hawaii.edu or via the online report form. Whenever possible,
  • Include a ruler, penny, or dime, for size reference
• Freeze the specimen in a ziplock bag to preserve

Pathogen/plant disease collection
• Banana Bunchy Top Virus Collection Method  - Take your specimen to the UH-CTAHR   extension office on your island

This document is in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. If your computer is not already set up to read these files, you can download the FREE Adobe Acrobat reader.