12.00pm
Ants that allegedly "poured out" of containers delivered to a Hawke's Bay power station site cannot be identified because no samples were collected.
The live ants and a lizard were found in containers opened at the Whirinaki site north of Napier on January 7.
The containers of equipment had been sent from
China to Napier via North America.
The lizard was last week identified as a Hemidactylus turcicus, commonly known as the Turkish gecko, which lives in the southern United States.
One worker on the site, who did not wish to be named, said the ants were seen "pouring out" of the container.
He said they were "jet black with an abdomen sticking straight up in the air", and not as long as "normal" ants.
Workers at the site notified Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) immediately and quarantine officers fumigated the containers.
MAF spokeswoman Philippa White said yesterday by the time the quarantine officers arrived there were no ants found in or around the container.
No further surveys of the area have been carried out by MAF staff, but workers have been asked to call MAF if they see any ants in the area.
MAF has planned surveillance for exotic invasive ants in the Napier area over February and March, she said.
MAF field technicians would visit ports, container sites, parks, and other high risk areas. About 1500 bait traps would be put around these areas .
The incursions at Whirinaki came just a week after MAF introduced new biosecurity standards that require every container coming into New Zealand to be checked externally.
- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY
Herald Feature: Conservation and Environment
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