Farm Forestry New Zealand
PESTS AND DISEASES OF FORESTRY IN NEW ZEALAND
No sign of gypsy moth
From Biosecurity Issue 28, June 2001.
No gypsy moths were trapped during MAF Forest Biosecurity’s monitoring programme for the exotic forest pest.
Gypsy moth is present in the Russian Far East and in parts of Asia, Europe and North America. Its caterpillar is known to feed on over 500 plant species and has the potential to damage New Zealand’s forests. The pest particularly favours northern hemisphere host plants such as oak, birch and poplar.
The trapping programme ran from November through to the end of April, to coincide with the moth’s predicted flight season. This year, 1043 traps were deployed by AgriQuality New Zealand throughout the country on properties neighbouring ports, container yards, and identified risk sites such as used car yards. The traps, which are checked fortnightly, are baited with a pheromone, a sex attractant. Male moths, attracted to the pheromone, enter the traps and are caught fast to the sticky interior.
Although no gypsy moths have been caught since MAF began trapping in 1993, continuation of the programme is essential in order to ensure any incursion is detected early enough to facilitate successful eradication.
Mark Ross, National Adviser, (Forest Pest Surveillance and Response), MAF Forest Biosecurity
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