Farm Forestry New Zealand
PESTS AND DISEASES OF FORESTRY IN NEW ZEALAND
Acrocercops distribution, August 2001 - April 2006
Forest Health News 110, August 2001.
New distribution record for New Zealand – Insect: Acrocercops laciniella;
Bioregion: Hawke’s Bay;
Comments: Known from a variety of eucalypt species.
Forest Health News 116, March 2002.
INTRODUCED LEAFMINER SPREADING IN STANDS OF EUCALYPTUS NITENS
The black butt leafminer, Acrocercops laciniella, was first detected in New Zealand in Auckland early in 1999, and by February, 2001, had reached parts of the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions (FHNews 83: 1; 104: 1). It continues to spread, and last spring was found on Eucalyptus pilularis (black butt) in Northland. This insect feeds on a variety of eucalypt hosts and there has been concern that it might become a significant pest in stands of E. nitens, as it has in plantations of E. nitens and E. globulus in Tasmania. Sure enough, populations of A. laciniella increased significantly in young stands of E. nitens in the Bay of Plenty region last summer. It is now common to find it on young flushing juvenile and sometimes adult foliage, forming characteristic spiral leaf mines that radiate out from the site where the egg was laid. Older mines eventually form a distinctive white blister that may cover up to a third of the leaf surface. There is currently no funding to support a biological control initiative against this pest, and its increase
and spread is being viewed with some apprehension.
Toni Withers, Forest Research
Forest Health News 130, June 2003.
Extension to known distribution & new host record for New Zealand – Insect: Acrocercops laciniella (Gracillariidae); Bioregion: Wanganui;
Comments: A continuation southward spread of this Australian leaf miner.
Forest Health News 142, July 2004.
New distribution record for New Zealand – Insect: Acrocercops laciniella (Gracillariidae); Bioregion: Nelson;
Comments: This Australian species was first found in New Zealand in 1999. It main hosts are Eucalyptus spp. and it is widespread in the North Island. This is the first record from the South Island.
Forest Health News 152, June 2005.
New distribution record for New Zealand – Insect: Acrocercops laciniella (Gracillariidae); Bioregion: Marlborough;
This is only the second record of this leaf miner from the South Island; the previous record was from Nelson. It is widespread in the North Island.
From Annual Forest Pest and Disease Status Report for New Zealand 2003-2004
Forest Health Group, Forest Research , September 2004.
Acrocercops laciniella
Acrocercops laciniella (Gracillariidae) was first recorded in New Zealand in January 1999. It is a significant pest in coastal New South Wales, where it causes outbreaks of damage from time to time on blackbutt (Eucalyptus pilularis). A. laciniella has a wide host range, which also extends to species within the eucalypt sub-genus Symphyomyrtus. It has spread quite rapidly throughout the North Island and in June of this year was found in the South Island (Nelson) for the first time.
Forest Health News 161, April 2006.
New distribution record for New Zealand — Insect: Acrocercops laciniella (Gracillariidae); Region: Wellington;
Comments: This Australian leaf-miner was first found in New Zealand in 1999 and has been recorded from about a wide range of Eucalyptus species. It is widespread in the North Island and has been found in the Marlborough Sounds, Marlborough, and Nelson.
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