Occurrence and Distribution of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Cockroaches (Blattodea), Centipedes (Chilopoda), and Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) of Public Health Importance on the Island of Oahu

摘要

The Vector Control Branch of the Hawaii Department of Health has accumulated a large volume of written inspection data on pests of public health for the island of Oahu. Ant, cockroach, centipede and wasp complaints provide the sixth, seventh, eighth and tenth greatest amounts of arthropod pest information available, following mosquito (first), other fly (second), flea (third), bee (fourth), and mite (fifth) and tick (ninth) complaints. The objectives of this study were to conduct a survey of the occurrence of ant, cockroach, centipede and wasp complaints on Oahu over a 10 year period, determine their distribution over time, graphically compare pest occurrence within and between district/areas, and correlate pest occurrence and distribution with season. Ant, cockroach, centipede and wasp data were drawn from inspection reports from 1990-1999, population information was obtained from Hawaii Census and State of Hawaii Data Books, 125 district/area geographic locations were defined, and pest occurrence and distribution were adjusted for population and mapped using ArcView GIS 3.2. Ant activity was mostly reported within the central, south and east urban districts; and the levels of ant activity were highest during the summer and fall. The primary ant species recorded were Monomorium pharaonis (Linnaeus), the pharaoh ant; Camponotus variegatus (F. Smith), the Hawaiian carpenter ant; Ochetellus glaber (Mayr), the glaber ant; Paratrechina longicornis Latreille, the crazy ant; Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius), the tropical fire ant; Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius), the tiny yellow house ant; Anoplolepis gracilipes (F. Smith), the long-legged ant; Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius), the big-headed ant; and Technomyrmex albipes (F. Smith), the white-footed ant. Reported cockroach activity was mainly found within the central, south and east urban districts; and the levels of cockroach activity were highest during the spring and summer. The primary cockroach species recorded were Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus), the American cockroach; Blattella germanica (Linnaeus), the German cockroach; and Diploptera punctata (Eschscholtz), the Pacific beetle cockroach. Most centipede activity was reported within the leeward urban districts, and the levels of centipede activity were highest during the winter, summer and fall. The primary centipede species recorded was Scolopendra subspinipes Leach, the large centipede. Finally, wasp activity was fairly well distributed across the island, and the levels of wasp activity were highest during the fall. The primary wasp species recorded was Polistes sp., the paper wasp.