Painted in auckland.

I remember growing up in west Auckland when we were invaded by a low flying plane dropping a nasty smelling chemical spraying for the painted apple moth (Teia anartoides). As a teen being easily influenced by others opinions i was very definitely against the aerial spraying. I recall a conversation with my Dad where I was telling him how wrong i thought the spraying was because of the so called health effects of the spray (as a sufferer of asthma although the spraying had no effect on my asthma)  and my Dad telling me would I like to see the Waitakere ranges looking like a desert in a matter of years if the council did not do anything about the painted apple moth.  After that conversation i changed my perspective on the importance of aerial spraying.

In 1999 the painted apple moth Teia anartoides was found in Glendene, Auckland, New Zealand. As the moth is a pest of many commercially important plant species and endemic plant species the decision to eradicate it was made. The program to eradicate the moth was the largest eradication program New Zealands biosecurity agent MAF has undertaken to date and by March 2006 the moth was declared eradicated. Between 1999 and 2003 contractors and MAF staff visually searched for the moth in the areas where it was originally found and in schools, parks, gardens and road side. Where both alive and dead larvae, pupae and moths were found and destroyed once correctly identified.

As the females are apterous (wingless) and immobile the larvae are self dispersed by walking and ballooning. because of this the larvae represent a more accurate idea of spread than the finding of female moths. In the moths native Australia the main host is wattle species which is where the moth was most commonly found in New Zealand. But the moth was not only found on exotic species of plants but also native species such as mangrove (Avicennia marina) and karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus). Also the number of larvae found on inanimate objects (clothing, walls, fences, plant pots and other objects in home gardens) was surprising and points to the larvae ability to  mobilize to find alternative food sources. This also suggests that inanimate objects provide a suitable site for pupation.

Stephens, A., Suckling, D., Burnip, G., Richmond,J., Flynn, A. (2007) Field records of painted apple moth (Teia artoidenas Walker: Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) on plants and inanimate objects in Auckland, New Zealand. Australian Journal of Entomology. 46:152-159.