South American passion killers arrive on our shores
Media Release: Wednesday, 18 February 2004
A Colombian moth with a taste for banana passionfruit is being brought to New Zealand to combat this invasive weed.
Beautiful but dangerous: a banana passionfruit plant. Landcare Research has imported a potential new weapon against this invasive weed.
Landcare Research technician Hugh Gourlay evaded Colombian guerrillas to locate the native moth Pyrausta perelegans in the country’s southern valleys. He then arranged approvals from the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) and MAF to allow the moth to be sent to New Zealand to be tested as a biological control agent. Two hundred moths have arrived in Christchurch today.
“The insects will be taken directly to Landcare Research’s quarantine facility at Lincoln,” Mr Gourlay says. “They will undergo at least a year of rigorous testing to make sure that neither the moths nor their caterpillars will eat native New Zealand plants or valuable exotics.
“If the testing is successful, an application will be made to ERMA for the moth’s release.”
Mr Gourlay says the moth is considered to be the number one pest of commercially grown banana passionfruit in Colombia.
“It eats the flowers and prevents the plants from setting seed, thereby stopping it from spreading.
“We hope it will have the same devastating impact on the plant in New Zealand as it has in Colombia.”
Landcare Research is also investigating three other insects and a fungus that show potential to attack banana passionfruit.
“The more weapons we have in our armoury, the greater our chance of succeeding in controlling this serious threat to our native forests.”
For more information please contact:
Hugh Gourlay
Landcare Research
Lincoln
(03) 325 6700 x3748
GourlayH@LandcareResearch.co.nz
Diana Leufkens
Landcare Research
Lincoln
(03) 325 6700 x3858
025 277 6183
LeufkensD@LandcareResearch.co.nz
Tom Fraser,
Media Communications Manager,
PO Box 40,
Lincoln. 7640.
Phone: 03 321 9719
Fax: 03 321 9998
Mobile: 027 277 6183
Email: FraserT@LandcareResearch.co.nz