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Maui County residents are being encouraged to collect and submit ants found on their properties this month as part of the state's annual "Stop the Ant Month" campaign.
The effort is aimed at locating and controlling invasive little fire ants and detecting other harmful species that are not yet established in Hawaii. Little fire ants are tiny orange ants measuring about 1/16 of an inch long. Their stings can cause painful, itchy welts and injure pets.
Free ant collection kits and instructions are available at StopTheAnt.org. Residents also can collect samples using household supplies and submit them for identification.
On Maui, samples can be mailed or dropped off with the Maui Invasive Species Committee, which also accepts samples from Lanai. For more information, call 808-573-6472 or mail samples to P.O. Box 983, Makawao, HI 96768.
Molokai residents can contact the Molokai Invasive Species Committee at 808-553-4236 or P.O. Box 220, Kualapuu, HI 96757.