Kauai County unveils inflatable beetle classroom to teach keiki about pests

A 20-foot inflatable beetle classroom is now moving through Kaua‘i, teaching keiki how to spot a pest that can kill palms and damage taro, banana, pineapple and sugarcane.

The County of Kaua‘i blessed the outreach project Thursday, May 28, on the lawn of the historic County Building in Līhu‘e. County councilmembers Mel Rapozo, Felicia Cowden and Fern Holland attended as Kahu Sabra Kauka prepared the wai and blessed the figures, a beetle family built for youth education: the giant inflatable Chuggy, a smaller Chuggy Jr. and larvae characters called Willie Worm.

Mark Jeffers of The Storybook Theater said the goal is to introduce Kaua‘i’s young people to the aggressive invasive species and support the broader community effort to eradicate it. The setup is more than a photo prop. When a group is small enough, instruction can happen inside the beetle. When a group is larger, the class moves outside, turning the inflatable into a portable classroom that can meet children where they are.

That approach comes as county and state agencies keep pushing early detection on an island where the beetle has already established a foothold. The first Kaua‘i detections were reported June 5, 2023, from traps near a green-waste transfer station close to the Līhu‘e Airport area. State agriculture officials said those were the first CRB detections outside O‘ahu and sent response crews to assess the infestation and begin eradication measures.

The county has since widened the outreach. The County of Kaua‘i Office of Economic Development launched a CRB resource page on April 11, 2025, and the County Council approved a request in 2024 to apply for, receive and spend $200,000 from the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture for mitigation and a public-awareness campaign. In January 2026, the county said it had added four newly certified CRB detection dogs to strengthen island-wide response efforts.

Jeffers said the outreach is meant to reach more than 4,000 keiki through Summer Fun programs around the county. The county also used a 2025 student art contest to push the same message to younger residents.

The Hawaii Invasive Species Council says coconut rhinoceros beetles are native to Africa, China, Myanmar, India and Southeast Asia, and that females can lay 50 to 140 eggs over a four- to nine-month lifespan. On Kaua‘i, where palms shape neighborhoods, parks and farms alike, the county is treating prevention as a daily responsibility, not a one-time campaign.