Maui Invasive Species Committee (MISC)

  • A A A
  • Home
  • Careers at MISC
  • Report a Pest
    • Statewide Pest Hotline
    • Coqui Frog
    • Little Fire Ants
    • MISC Target Pests
  • About Us
    • Who We Are
    • Partners
    • Committee Meetings and Minutes
    • Strategic Plan
    • Contact Us
  • Our Work
    • LFA Detector Dog Program
    • Mālama i ka ʻĀina Award
    • Coqui Frog Control Program
    • Invasive Species Articles
    • Press Releases
    • Technical and Scientific Publications
  • MISC Target Pests
    • Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle
    • Red-Vented Bulbul
    • Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death
    • Little Fire Ant
    • Coqui Frog
    • Miconia
    • Pampas Grass
    • Ivy Gourd
    • Blessed Milk Thistle
    • Fountain Grass
    • Mullein
    • Rubber vine
  • Get Involved!
    • Community Coqui Control Program
      • Make Your Yard Un-Friendly to Coqui Frogs
      • Community Coqui Control Code of Conduct
      • Effects of citric acid on the environment
      • Where are the coqui frogs?
    • Donate
    • Be Our Eyes and Ears
    • Survey for Little Fire Ants
    • Classroom Visits and Presentations
    • Workshops
  • MISC Target Species

Thank you for your coqui report!

Thanks to reports like yours, MISC has captured single frogs throughout Maui and kept coqui from becoming established throughout the island. This map shows the locations of single frog captures until the beginning of 2020

By using the online coqui report form, you are helping us work as efficiently as possible. That being said, MISC receives many coqui reports and we may not be able to respond immediately.  Particularly during this time, as our work around homes and in neighborhoods is affected by the global pandemic, COVID-19.

If you are able to assist us further, we welcome your help! Here are some suggestions:

  • Pinpoint and mark the frog’s location. Male frogs often return to the same place to call, night after night. But they don’t always call.  If you can locate their perch, the crew can catch or spray even if they are not calling. Marking their hiding place with flagging is especially helpful.
  • Catch the frog yourself. With a little patience, you can capture the frog yourself. MISC uses a dilute solution of food-grade citric acid and water to control coqui. If you would like training on using citric acid to control coqui frogs and free citric delivery, let us know. Please contact Susan Frett at 808.633.6646 or Abe Vandenberg at 808.269.0535 to make arrangements.
  • Make your yard less frog-friendly. If you live in an area where coqui frogs are present, getting rid of the overgrown vegetation can make your yard much quieter.
  • Work with your neighbors. As the front line of the coqui infestation spread east from Maliko gulch into Haiku, we’ve partnered with neighborhoods. These communities have taken up the charge of eliminating coqui within their own backyards and help their neighbors do the same. If you are interested in beginning a program in your neighborhood, contact the MISC Community Engagement Coordinator, Susan Frett at 808.633.6646, skfrett@hawaii.edu
  • Continue to report coqui frogs

By taking action in your backyard, you are contributing to coqui free neighborhoods and freeing up the coqui crew to focus their efforts in gulches and cliff faces.

Haiku Mauka is one of the neighborhoods working together to eliminate coqui in their backyards.

Mahalo nui! 

If you have additional questions about MISC’s efforts to control coqui on Maui, contact the coqui crew coordinator, Abe Vandenberg, at 808.269.0535

MISC Coqui Strategy:

MISC approaches coqui control similar to how wildland firefighters contain a fire – establishing control lines around the perimeter and focusing on the hot spots (the areas where coqui are spreading fastest) and outliers. Gulches are hot spots, accelerating the spread of the frogs by funneling coqui to uninfested areas. 

Hitting hot spots in wild, overgrown areas and steep gulches is incredibly challenging. To spray these hard-to-reach places the crew installs a network of PVC pipes in the gulch. 

This allows the crew to use both pumps and gravity-fed systems originating from a tank of citric farther away. Then the crew “plugs in” fire hoses at stations built into the PVC system, enabling the crew to effectively target the frog populations in hard-to-access areas.

These techniques work. MISC has eliminated 22 populations of coqui frogs (five or more calling males) across Maui and there are currently 9 active sites. MISC has slowed the spread from the gulch while keeping the rest of Maui from being affected; hundreds of single frogs have been caught all over the island.

Status of coqui frog populations on Maui as of 2019. Green dots represent sites frog populations have been eradicated.

It’s not just coqui: 

The Maui Invasive Species Committee (MISC) works on 30+ invasive species across Maui County, including plants, ants, and plant diseases.  We couldn’t do any of this without a supportive community helping us find pests. Mahalo nui.

  • Other MISC target pests
  • More information about coqui frogs

Stop the Spread of Coqui – Get Involved!

  • Report Coqui
  • Community Coqui Control Program
  • Coqui-free Certification Program
  • Coqui Frog Identification Tips
  • Coqui Frog Facts
  • Coqui-free Businesses

Get Involved

  • Donate
  • Classroom Visits and Presentations
  • Meetings Minutes
  • Report a Pest
PCSU logo

Contact Us

Maui Invasive Species Committee (MISC)
Office: (808) 573-6472
Press and Media Inquiries: (808) 344-2756
Mailing Address:
PO Box 983, Makawao, HI 96768

Acting Manager / Public Relations: Lissa Strohecker
E-mail: miscpr@hawaii.edu

Special Projects: Teya Penniman
E-mail: miscmgr@hawaii.edu

Statewide Pest Hotline: 808-643-PEST
Report a Pest Online

© 2025 Maui Invasive Species Committee (MISC) • Sitemap • Log in