 The earliest recorded introductions were to Barbados and Martinique . The Barbados introductions were focused on the biological control of pests damaging the sugarcane crops , and while the toads became abundant , they have done even less to control the pests than in Australia . The toad was introduced to Martinique from French Guiana before 1944 and became established . Today , they reduce the mosquito and mole cricket populations . A third introduction to the region occurred in 1884 , when toads appeared in Jamaica , reportedly imported from Barbados to help control the rodent population . While they had no significant effect on the rats , they nevertheless became well established . Other introductions include the release on Antigua — possibly before 1916 , although this initial population may have died out by 1934 and been reintroduced at a later date — and Montserrat , which had an introduction before 1879 that led to the establishment of a solid population , which was apparently sufficient to survive the Soufrière Hills volcano eruption in 1995 . 
