An entomologist has rejected the need for aerial spraying in Hamilton to kill the Asian gypsy moth.
John Clearwater, a senior scientist involved in Operation Evergreen, the 1996-1998 Auckland programme which eradicated the white-spotted tussock moth, said the basis of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry response was flawed. Aerial pesticide
spraying, likely to start in early October, was unnecessary.
The Asian gypsy moth found in Hamilton was a lone male and not representative of a breeding population, as the ministry believed, he said.
Dr Clearwater told an anti-spraying meeting in Hamilton that the ministry's initial responses to the March discovery of a live moth were "completely appropriate".
It had deployed hundreds of pheromone traps, restricted movement of vegetation and engaged the public in trying to find signs of the moth.
But he attacked a "strong belief" that the lone male moth represented a viable breeding population.
The ministry's forest biosecurity director, Peter Thomson, has said that assumption was the basis for its entire response.
Hamilton West MP Martin Gallagher has asked Dr Clearwater for a report on his assessment that could be put to Cabinet when it considers next month whether aerial spraying should go ahead.
The ministry's assumption has been that the Hamilton moth hatched from an egg mass. But Dr Clearwater said it was more likely the male emerged from a pupae, and was alone.
- NZPA
Herald Feature: Conservation and Environment
Related links
