Quarantine foils world's worst forest pest

Newcastle Quarantine officers have stopped a potential invasion by the world’s worst forestry pest.

During inspection of a bulk coal vessel that arrived in Newcastle this week, Quarantine officers found a significant number of insect egg masses on various parts of the ship.

Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) entomologist Ross Rickard later identified the eggs as Asian gypsy moth, regarded as the world’s most serious pest of plantation timber. Asian gypsy moth is widespread in Europe, northeastern Asia and North America, and is known to feed on more than 600 plant species — including eucalypts, fruit trees and urban ornamental plants.

A single gypsy moth egg mass can contain up to 1200 eggs.

“AQIS officers found the gypsy moth egg masses during routine inspection of the vessel, which had recently visited Russian Far East ports, and immediately treated and removed the eggs,” AQIS Newcastle manager Glenn Smith said. 

“Luckily there were no live adults or larvae among the egg masses, which were several days away from hatching. This detection is precisely why AQIS conducts a thorough inspection of every vessel that arrives in Australian waters,” Glenn said.

“There’s simply too much at stake: gypsy moth could devastate Australia’s plant-based agriculture and horticulture industries, worth an estimated $17 billion a year. The potential costs to our native forests and timber plantations would be immense.”

“Australia has the toughest quarantine system in the world, and this detection is a great example of how we work to protect Australia’s unique environment and our agriculture and horticulture industries,” Glenn said.

Media contact:

Glenn Smith DAFF Media +61 2 6272 3232