Another fruit fly found in Whangarei

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is investigating a new find of a single male Queensland fruit fly in a surveillance trap in Whangarei.

The fly was collected from an MPI routine surveillance trap on Tuesday and formally identified late yesterday.

MPI Deputy Director General Compliance and Response Andrew Coleman said the insect was trapped in the Parihaka area of Whangarei, approximately 400m from where a single fly was found in January this year.

"However all our information at this stage tells us this detection is a new find and not related to the January incident.

"Queensland fruit fly has been found four times in New Zealand previously, including the January Whangarei detection. In all these earlier cases, increased trapping found no further flies," Mr Coleman said.

Up to 120 Ministry of Primary Industry and Quality Assure staff worked on the biosecurity threat in Whangarei after a single male Queensland fruit fly was found in a garden in the Riverside/Parihaka area, on January 21.

The operation was finally declared over on February 8 after no more fruit flies were found following two weeks of trapping, fruit sampling and testing. That operatoin cost $1.6 million.