HortNews - Moth Breeder Could Have Destroyed NZ Fruit Industry

	HortNews
	Moth Breeder Could Have Destroyed NZ Fruit Industry

WELLINGTON 22/01/2003 - An Auckland man has admitted breaching stringent biosecurity laws by importing eggs of a foreign moth with the potential to ravage the country's horticulture and forests.
The pale tussock moth belongs to the same family as the white spotted tussock moth and the painted apple moth which authorities fear could ravage New Zealand's forestry industry.
In 1996, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) spent $10.8 million eradicating the white spotted tussock moth from Auckland's eastern suburbs.
Currently in west Auckland, MAF has budgeted $110 million to wipe out the painted apple moth.
The pale tussock moth was one of five different types of moth imported between April and July 2001 by Epsom man Andrew Hollingworth, who has an interest in breeding moths and butterflies.
Hollingsworth, a 30-year-old laboratory technician, has admitted a charge of buying unauthorised goods under the Biosecurity Act. He is due to be sentenced in the Auckland District Court next month.
The charge carries a maximum fine of five years and/or a $100,000 fine.
Hollingsworth was caught when the International Mail Centre in Auckland intercepted an envelope containing eggs from the scarlet windowed moth.
On five occasions between April and July 2001 Hollingsworth had ordered moth and butterfly eggs from a UK supplier through the Internet.
They included the pale tussock moth, the giant or royal silkworm moth, the citrus swallowtail butterfly, the scarlet windowed moth and the luna moth.
When MAF searched Hollingworth's home they found four species of moth and butterfly eggs and caterpillars, alive and dead, including three species of 85 live caterpillars.
None of the species is currently found in New Zealand.
According to MAF's summary of facts, Hollingsworth denied knowing it was illegal to import the eggs, but acknowledged that he was aware that if the caterpillars or moths had escaped, some would have become pests, defoliating trees.
While he had no intention of releasing the moths or butterflies, he could not guarantee that the larvae could not escape.
He told MAF officials that he ensured no larvae were present on the leaves when he threw the leaves away and always put them in tied-up rubbish bags.
The caterpillars were kept in plastic containers in Hollingsworth's bedroom.
Hollingsworth allegedly told the officials that he was aware of the tussock moth and painted apple moth eradication programmes.
Malcolm Kay, a forest entomologist with Forest Research in Rotorua, who compiled a report for MAF, said that importation of the pale tussock moth was "particularly galling", in the light of the huge efforts in the recent past to eradicate tussock moths.
"At worst it is extremely irresponsible but you don't know just how naive these people are," Mr Kay said.
Female pale tussock moths' favourite plants are pit and stone fruit trees, which have a high economic value to New Zealand. Native beech would also be at risk.
An outbreak of an introduced pest could result in New Zealand's trading partners banning New Zealand horticultural products, says MAF.
Eradication of any pale tussock moth outbreak is estimated would cost around $100 million.
Hollingsworth's lawyer Ron Mansfield said his client was not charged with intentionally introducing new species to New Zealand - he was charged with being reckless.
"He had taken precautions to ensure that none of the moths, if they hatched, could escape and there is no suggestion at all that any moths escaped. And certainly there is no suggestion he intended to introduce these species of moths into New Zealand."