Farm Forestry New Zealand
PESTS AND DISEASES OF FORESTRY IN NEW ZEALAND
Goodbye tussock moth!
Scion is the leading provider of forest-related knowledge in New Zealand
Formerly known as the Forest Research Institute, Scion has been a leader in research relating to forest health for over 50 years. The Rotorua-based Crown Research Institute continues to provide science that will protect all forests from damage caused by insect pests, pathogens and weeds. The information presented below arises from these research activities.
From Forest Health News No. 76, July 1998.
The white-spotted tussock moth is gone from Auckland's eastern suburbs. Operation Ever Green, established in 1996 to eradicate the pest, winds up this week confident that it has achieved its objective.
The last white-spotted tussock moths were sighted in April 1997 when six male moths were trapped in the Kohimarama area following aerial and ground spraying. Believing a small population may have over-wintered last year, high-density trap surveillance was undertaken between December 1997 and mid-June. The trapping operation used a synthetic pheromone especially developed for Operation Ever Green. The fact that trials proved that the pheromone performed six times more effectively than live females in attracting male moths has been factored into the success equation. Traps were checked for the final time as they were brought from the field in mid-June. As with every previous check, there was no sign of the tussock moth.
Future actions are:
- MAF will undertake limited trapping across greater Auckland next summer. Between 300 and 400 traps will be placed throughout the region, including sites where garden rubbish may have been disposed of.
- The last remaining laboratory population of tussock moths, held by Forest Research in Rotorua, has been destroyed. The colony was used for a number of research initiatives, such as feeding trials.
- MAF will DNA-type the tussock moth so that it will know if any populations found in the future are new incursions or are related to the eastern suburbs' infestation.
- Health monitoring, to investigate every possible link between the Btk spray and health events in the eastern suburbs of Auckland, will continue until mid-1999.
A feature of the Operation Ever Green project has been the number of calls received, from all parts of the country, from people who have found-suspicious looking bugs. Many of these callers from outside Auckland have been referred to Operation Ever Green by MAF staff. The 0800 number will continue as the point of contact for residents of the eastern suburbs and others who want to report insect finds, or who have health concerns. The management of the 0800 76 5000 number will be facilitated through the National Manager's office in Rotorua now operations have ceased at the Operation Ever Green Headquarters at Penrose.
For further inquiries please contact Ross Morgan, National Manager Forest Health.
This information is intended for general interest only. It is not intended to be a substitute for specific specialist advice on any matter and should not be relied on for that purpose. Scion will not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary damages, loss of profits, or any other intangible losses that result from using the information provided on this site.
(Scion is the trading name of the New Zealand Forest Research Institute Limited.)
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