Farm Forestry New Zealand

PESTS AND DISEASES OF FORESTRY IN NEW ZEALAND

Clarifying the pest status of some exotic termite species for New Zealand

From Surveillance 45 (2) 2018.

Exotic termites of pest significance pose a risk to New Zealand’s biosecurity and our nation’s trade if they become established. New Zealand has experience of exotic termites arriving here via imported commodities and other pathways. Fortunately the vast majority of these arrivals have either been dealt with at our borders or, if found within our borders, they have been contained, treated and eradicated.

Only three exotic termite species are considered to have become established in New Zealand – Kalotermes banksiae and Glyptotermes brevicornis (Kalotermitidae), and Porotermes adamsoni (Stolotermitidae), evidenced by repeated collections over time from local-origin host material. While none of these established species are considered of great economic significance, other exotic termite species found within New Zealand’s borders certainly are significant pests. Of these, the most important are the Australian subterranean termites Coptotermes acinaciformis and Coptotermes frenchi (Rhinotermitidae), and the West Indian drywood termite Cryptotermes brevis (Kalotermitidae). Owing to the economic significance of these three species, whenever they have been found in New Zealand the response objective has been total eradication.

Here we provide a summary of the detections of these species, present up-to-date information on the eradication measures that have been undertaken in response to them, and propose that the status of all three species for New Zealand can be considered “absent: eradicated”.

The need for clarification

It is crucial to be clear about which species are established and which are not. There has been some confusion regarding the presence or absence in New Zealand of the three exotic termite species Coptotermes acinaciformis and Coptotermes frenchi (Rhinotermitidae), and Cryptotermes brevis (Kalotermitidae). This stems from a number of factors. There has not been a great deal of attention given to termites as a taxonomic group generally in New Zealand, perhaps owing to our very small native fauna. There has also been little discussion of exotic species in the New Zealand context. What publications do exist have been rather sporadic, resulting in long periods of time during which the status of some exotic species may not have been clear. Further, there has been a lack of published information regarding any detections of exotic termites and actions undertaken by agencies that hold this information (i.e., MPI and its predecessors). On top of all this, confusion arises from the use of different terms, definitions, or interpretations of terms, by different authors and agencies.

The field of invasion biology has created many terms to describe the status of an organism in a particular geographic area, both fundamentally (i.e., is it present or absent) as well as the nature of any presence. MPI developed operational protocols for responding to detections of Coptotermes, which have used the term “eliminated” to designate the stage of operational activities when all known activity of the termite at a location had ceased, and this was evidenced by a series of consecutive inspections that found no activity. Previously MPI only used the term “eradicated” at the end of a subsequent period of continued surveillance at the location, in most cases up to 5 years after all termite activity actually ceased.

The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (IPPC 2017a,b) define specific terms and pest status categories. The IPPC does not use the term “eliminated”, but IPPC (2017a) does define “eradication” as “application of phytosanitary measures to eliminate a pest from an area [formerly eradicate]”. Thus it is clear that “eradication” and “eradicated” mean the same thing as “eliminate” and “eliminated”. Therefore we propose to use the term “eradicated” rather than “eliminated” wherever the activity of an exotic termite is deemed to have ceased.

The national pest status of the termite species from the time when all cases have been eradicated can be considered as “absent: eradicated” (IPPC 2017b). With this in mind, we can review the known detections of C. acinaciformis, C. frenchi and C. brevis in New Zealand and consider the eradication measures undertaken and outcomes achieved to date for these species.

Coptotermes acinaciformis and Coptotermes frenchi

Bain & Jenkin (1983) reviewed a range of exotic termite species for New Zealand, including C. acinaciformis and C. frenchi. The terms they saw as best applying to records of exotic termite species were “established”, “recorded from” and “intercepted”. They considered both C. acinaciformis and C. frenchi to be “established”, which they defined as meaning that there was “evidence of these species spreading from host material in which they were not imported”. The designation “established” was based on known activity of the two species in New Zealand at the time: C. acinaciformis was still active at one site in Te Puke and another in Auckland, and C. frenchi was still active at one site in Hamilton and another in Auckland. It is important to note that these locations were under treatment at the time, and that Bain & Jenkin (1983) also reported other locations of historical activity for both species where they had been successfully eradicated.

In the more than 20 years since, further detections were made of both C. acinaciformis and C. frenchi in New Zealand (MPI, unpublished data). All detections, both prior and subsequent to Bain & Jenkin (1983), have been treated by relevant government agencies, and official programmes continued through the 1980s and 1990s to eradicate them. Eventually in 2005 both species were officially declared to be “eradicated” following a period of surveillance after activity had actually ceased (Ross, 2005a,b). It is important to revisit our earlier comments about the terms used at the time by MPI’s predecessor, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), which used the term “eliminated” rather than “eradicated” when all Coptotermes activity actually ceased in 2001 (Ross, 2005a). We proposed that it was at this point that eradication, as per the IPPC (2017a) definition, was actually achieved. Following this, MAF ran a surveillance programme until 2005, during which no further termite activity was found.

After the widespread efforts up to 2001 to eradicate Coptotermes from New Zealand, two new detections of C. acinaciformis were made in January 2006 at Richmond (near Nelson), and in January 2007 at Coatesville (near Auckland) (Ross, 2006; Pearson & Bennett 2008; Philip et al., 2008). As before, official eradication programmes were implemented for both locations. Eradication (as per IPPC definition) was quickly achieved at both locations, with all activity having ceased at Richmond by June 2007 and Coatesville by April 2008 (Pearson & Bennett, 2008). MacFarlane et al. (2010) included both Coptotermes species in their contribution to the New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity as “adventive (naturalised alien)”. The inclusion of C. acinaciformis can be understood, considering that MAF continued to use the term “eliminated” rather than “eradicated” at the time (e.g., Pearson & Bennett, 2008). Similarly, Evans (2011) reviewed invasive termites of the world, and he too designated C. acinaciformis as “established” in New Zealand, citing Bain & Jenkin (1983), Philip et al., (2008) and Ross (2005a,b).

It is unclear why MacFarlane et al.(2010) included C. frenchi in their list. Unfortunately their information has in turn been repeated in several online resources (Anon., n.d., a, b). In contrast, Evans (2011) correctly postulated that C. frenchi had “possibly been eliminated from New Zealand” because the species had been under active management at the time of Bain & Jenkin (1983), and had not been mentioned from New Zealand sources since. Indeed, no new detections have been made of C. frenchi in New Zealand since 1998 (MPI, unpublished data).

Despite the successful eradication again of C. acinaciformis from known sites in New Zealand by April 2008, still more detections of this species have been made in subsequent years. The location, date of detection, date of eradication, and actual or proposed end of surveillance for these recent responses to C. acinaciformis are shown in Table 1. At the time of their detection all these could be considered as fitting with the IPPC definition of “establishment”: “perpetuation, for the foreseeable future, of a pest within an area after entry” (IPPC, 2017a). However, at present they are all at a stage where they should be considered to be eradicated (as per IPPC definition). Five locations are still under post-eradication surveillance.

Cryptotermes brevis

Cryptotermes brevis (Kalotermitidae) is not included in any of the publications about termites in New Zealand mentioned so far. Alate termites were noted by residents of a house in February 2011, and they reported this to MAF who identified them as C. brevis. The first public report of this termite was by Bain (2011), who summarised the detection and the actions being undertaken by MAF, and Bennett (2012) provided more details. A thorough inspection of the house found multiple imported wooden items with signs of drywood termite. Several items were destructively sampled and were confirmed as infested with live C. brevis. The official eradication programme involved removal of wooden items from the house for fumigation, and an entire house-fumigation using sulphuryl fluoride, in October 2011. MPI is still conducting extended post- eradication surveillance for C. brevis, similar to the eradication protocols for Coptotermes but in this case for 10 years. MPI therefore expects to end response activities for C. brevis by 2021. To date there has been no activity of C. brevis found since 2011. We therefore conclude that this species should also be considered “absent: eradicated” from New Zealand.

Table 1: Responses to Coptotermes acinaciformis detected in New Zealand since 2001 (source: MPI, unpublished data). Locations numbered 1 to 9 are also shown in Figure 1.

Location	Date detected	Date eradicated	End of post-eradication surveillance
1 Richmond (Nelson)	Jan 2006	Jun 2007	Jul 2011
2 Coatesville (Auckland)	Jan 2007	Apr 2008	Mar 2013
3 Nelson	Nov 2009	Mar 2011	Aug 2016
4 Pukekohe/Patumahoe (Auckland)	Nov 2010	Dec 2011	Dec 2016
5 Point Wells (Auckland)	Jan 2012	Nov 2013	Pending – set for Nov 2018
6 Drury (Auckland)	Nov 2012	Nov 2013	Pending – set for Nov 2018
7 Mangere (Auckland)	Sep 2013	Dec 2014	Pending – set for Dec 2019
8 Walton (Waikato)	Sep 2013	Dec 2014	Pending – set for Dec 2019
9 Omaha (Auckland)	Sep 2014	Nov 2015	Pending – set for Nov 2020

Summary

It is clear that Coptotermes acinaciformis, Coptotermes frenchi and Cryptotermes brevis have been found in New Zealand in the past, and that many of these finds could have been justifiably considered as an “establishment” (as defined by IPPC) at the locations where they were found. However, MPI has implemented measures to eradicate all detections of these species and there is no evidence of any activity by any of them in New Zealand at present. Also, these species have never been found without a direct association or link with imported timbers. For example, all incursions of C. acinaciformis since 1999 have been directly associated with imported Australian hardwood. Therefore we propose that all three species can be considered “absent: eradicated” from New Zealand.

To comply with operational protocols that MPI has adopted for these pests, MPI will continue post-eradication surveillance at some of these locations for a number of years. However, this should not be taken to suggest these pests are not yet eradicated, but to show that MPI is continuing to take a precautionary approach. Notably, there have been five successful eradication programmes for C. acinaciformis at different sites in New Zealand since 1999, none of which has subsequently seen a renewal of activity. With all responses since 2005 following similar protocols, we have very high confidence in each eradication, and so New Zealand should be considered free from Coptotermes and Cryptotermes brevis as defined by ISPM (IPPC, 2017a).

Shaun J Bennett
Scientist – Entomology
Plant Health and Environment Laboratory Diagnostic & Surveillance Services Ministry for Primary Industriesshaun.bennett@mpi.govt.nz

Alan Flynn
Team Manager Entomology
Plant Health and Environment Laboratory
Diagnostic & Surveillance Services Ministry for Primary Industriesalan.flynn@mpi.govt.nz

References

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Anon. (n.d., b). New Zealand Organism Register (NZOR). http://www.nzor.org.nz/. Accessed 21 May 2018.

Bain J, Jenkin MJ (1983). Kalotermes banksiae, Glyptotermes brevicornis, and other termites (Isoptera) in New Zealand. New Zealand Entomologist 7(4): 365–370.

Bennett S (2012). Detection of West Indian drywood termite, Cryptotermes brevis, on Kapiti Coast. Surveillance 39(1): 30–31.

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IPPC (International Plant Protection Convention) (2017a). International Standard for Phytosanitary measures (ISPM) 5 – Glossary of phytosanitary terms.

IPPC (International Plant Protection Convention) (2017b). International Standard for Phytosanitary measures (ISPM) 8 – Determination of pest status in an area.

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Ross M (2005a). Australian subterranean termites eradicated. Biosecurity Magazine 60, 9.

Ross M (2005b). Responding to incursions of Australian subterranean termites in New Zealand.In: Lee, C.-Y., Robinson, W.H. (eds). Proceedings of the 5th International conference on urban pests. Perniagaan Ph’ng @ P&Y Design, Peneng, 233–238.

Ross M (2006). Subterranean termites found in Nelson. Biosecurity Magazine 67, 9.