One male Queensland Fruit Fly was found in a trap in Mt Roskill, Auckland this week. Biosecurity New Zealand is worried that there could be more of these insects. In the meantime, people who live in that area and nearby Avondale cannot take fruit out to other areas. Biosecurity is asking people to put all their fruit and vegetable rubbish in a special air-tight bin. They must not compost the rubbish.
The Queensland fruit fly is a terrible problem in parts of Australia, especially this year. It attacks over 100 different kinds of fruit and fruiting vegetables like tomatoes, pumpkins and egg plant. The female makes a very small hole in the skin of ripe fruit and lays her eggs inside the fruit. The maggots hatch and eat the fruit from the inside, then they leave the fruit and drop down to the ground. The fruit looks good from the outside but inside is mushy and brown.
In many states of Australia, you are not allowed to carry fruit or vegetables, especially near fruit-growing areas. Growers are worried that travellers could bring the Queensland Fruit Fly into their area. Australia calls this the World’s Worst Fruit Pest. Growers say it costs $100m in lost fruit and for chemicals to kill the fly.
How did the Queensland Fruit Fly get into New Zealand?
When you arrive in New Zealand, Biosecurity checks luggage. Sometimes sniffer dogs sniff your bags, including your hand luggage. They can smell fruit. Anyone who tries to bring fruit into New Zealand has to pay a large fine.
The other way that insects can get into New Zealand is from imported fruit but New Zealand does not buy fruit from areas with Queensland Fruit Fly.
Listen to March 25th 2010 to hear more about Biosecurity and unwanted pests.
Vocabulary
• A trap – this hangs in a fruit tree and contains chemicals which attract the fly and kill it
• The job of Biosecurity New Zealand is to keep out plants and animals we do not want.
• air-tight – air cannot get in (water-tight = water cannot get in)
• compost – a bin in the garden where plant rubbish and leaves make good food for your garden
• fruiting vegetable has a flower which forms the vegetable
• maggots –small insect which comes out of the egg
• hatch – a live animal (maggot, chicken) comes out of an egg
• mushy – soft like baby food
• pest – a plant or animal you don’t want. It can cause a problem.
• sniff – smell, take air in your nose
With the commercial composting being brought in by many councils in NZ, isn’t this a real threat to spread these problems with fruit flies and health threats. Trucks arriving and leaving these facilities like Envirofert food waste composting facility here in Tuakau are a sure way of transporting these problems.As they take food waste from Auckland and Hamilton they could become contaminated. Our councils have not thought this out properly and have to be made accountable should this happen.
this article was interesting and good. i was able to learn the thing that were happening around the world.