The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-11-02
THE NOODPECKER DANGER


CONTINUED from page one)
alI Of which are peculiar 10 the Islands
and many of them excessively NUM-
dnnt ON all the islands the small igl-
and of oahu alone having some thirty
different Kinds. In work, not yet
completed, on the fauna OF the islands
considered economically the writer has
estimated that the island OF Hawaii
alone, has "a minimum population of
four million individuals OF these wasps
of the female sex. which sex alone
stores up caterpllars for the young, In
reality the number is in all probability
at least 10 times greater normally than
the estimate. Even IL the lower figure
be accepted and We assume that each
Of these wasps destroys on the average
two Caterpillars day tone under OBJ
servation brought no less than 10 TO its
nest i'm that timeD then on Hawaii
alone s million a day, or the incredible
number Of nearly 5000, 100000 caterpil-
lars a year are destroyed by these
wasps. Many of these wasps are true
forest insects, and these generally make
their nests i'm the old holes in dead
timber of trees from which borers have
previously emerged, in fact in just
such places as are most frequented by
woodpeckers in search Of food. The
young Of the wasps are fat, white grubs
which would certainly prove highly
palatable to the birds. and they would
be generally much more easy to obtain
than the borers themselves. Probably
the wasps themselves, when sitting
around and entering the burrows, would
also be eaten since many woodpeckers
are well known to be partial to singing
ants. 1t is difficult to conceive the eff
feet on the forests that the eXteImina-
ton or great diminution in numbers Of
these wasps would produce. 1t is prob
able that the Ohia trees the chief COM
ponent in general of all the forests,
would be entirely defoliated, and there
by killed, since on these trees many
kinds of these wasps find their special
prey Several kinds of caterpillars
which live on various grasses and the
young leaves of sugar cane are es-
peCially sought for by one most abun-
dant species. 1t is safe to say that no
destruction of borers would ever COM
pensate the injury which would follow
on the destruction OF these destroyers
of caterpillars.
1t may be noticed that the borers
which now are the most injurious to
trees We're all beyond doubt introduced
by man, and that most of them might
by a rigid examination of plants and
seeds have been easily kept out of the
credited as being at all harmful, since
their absolute popularity and the multi
plicity Of species clearly proves that
they must have existed here for thou
sands of years, and had they been really
injurious the forests would have been
all destroyed long before the advent OF
the white man.
We have read that the opinion of DR..
Merriam is to be obtained as to the wis
dom of introducing woodpeckers into
Hawaii. With all due respect to that
well known scientist, the opinion of the
Sultan of Turkey would be almost
equally valuable The conditions of
the fauna of this country and of Anne
RIGA are utterly different and 1t Is GER
tain that no American zoologist has at
the present time any considerable
knowledge of these conditions. Further
the question is primarily one for the en-
tomologist and not for the specialist on
the study of birds. Were the matter
not serious the application to Washing
ton would be positively laughable, in
view of the fact that the islands possess
an official entomologist OF their own,
well-acquainted with the habits f birds
and insects, and whose knowledge OF
the conditions here must. after a lesi- !
dence of years, be infinitely greater
than that of all the Washington au-
thorities combined If it be mis- opinion
that woodpeckers would be beneficial, |
that should decide the matter, and time
alone will show whether that opinion or
the writer's will prove correct.
r. c. L. PERKINS.
Honolulu, October 81, 1901.