New Pests in the Garden

The area where I live has been identified as ground zero in the search for a new Pest – a newly arrived Fruit Fly that has authorities in NZ worried. So much so they are asking the public to keep an eye out for it so it can be destroyed before it gets a foothold here.

It arrived from Queensland, Australia. and so far eight fruit flies have been captured in the 3 months since Biosecurity NZ started laying traps to find it.

Interestingly, the Queensland fruitfully is not the only new insect pest to arrive in NZ recently. Regular readers of my blog will have heard me mention a worm infestation that ruined my plums this year. At first I thought it was Codling Moth and I was determined to do something about it this year even if it meant having to spray.

When I described the symptoms to the good people down at the Garden Centre,  they told me it wasn't Codling Moth at all, but a new pest called Guava Moth. The bad news is there's nothing that can be done about it – at least not yet. The Guava Moth too, is a new arrival from Australia. It was first detected in the far north of NZ but it has gradually spread farther south to Auckland and is thriving in our temperate conditions.

The Guava Moth has the potential to decimate fruit crops and in my view is a much bigger problem than the Fruit Fly as it affects ripening fruit on the tree. I saw it for the first time in my garden 2 years ago but this year it totally ruined my plums, pleaches and feijoas. Strangely, despite the name of this pest, my Guava bush has been unaffected.

The Aukland council website has this to say...

More information about the Guava Moth can be found on the Auckland council website