The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for all islands in the state of Hawaiʻi as heavy rains and thunderstorms have entered the forecast.
The threat of floods is particularly concerning for the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council, as water is a way for insects like the little fire ant to spread.
To learn more, HPR spoke with Oʻahu Invasive Species Committee Outreach Coordinator Erin Bishop. She said there have been close to 200 reported cases since the little fire ant, or LFA, was first discovered on Oʻahu 13 years ago.
"They move very easily because they're so small, and it's really hard to detect them unless you're testing," Bishop told HPR.
"So that's really one of the key outreach messages … to do their testing once a year. Just collect your ants in your yard, and you can mail them in and get them identified."
Plant matter and debris are hotspots for little fire ants, and as Bishop explained, they can also transport them to new areas to colonize during the rain.
"We've seen this in the field on Oʻahu, where we find populations of LFA along a stream," she explained. "It could be a tree branch that falls in. The ants will raft together so they can float on the surface, and then wherever they end up landing, if there's a queen, they can start a whole new colony."
She urged Oʻahu residents, especially those living near streams or low-lying areas, to test their areas for LFA.
More information about LFA testing and reporting can be found here.
This story aired on The Conversation on Oct. 27, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
