Painted apple moth

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Painted Apple Moth
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Lepidoptera Family: Lymantriidae Genus: Teia Species: T. anartoides
Binomial name
Teia anartoides Walker, 1855

Painted Apple Moth (Teia anartoides) is a moth native to Australia. It is notable as a pest in pine forests, and is classified as a pest in New Zealand.^[1]

In New Zealand, controversy arose when an outbreak of the moth was identified in Auckland, leading to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry taking action to eradicate it. This involved Aerial spraying of Foray 48B over heavily populated areas over a period of 29 months. West Auckland experienced 48 discrete aerial spray events over 70 days. After the Government of New Zealand declined to conduct a public inquiry into the spraying, a "people's inquiry" was initiated, conducted by a number of academics, which delivered a report critical of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's approach to the issue.^[2]

[edit] References

1. ^ Biosecurity New Zealand, Painted Apple Moth, retrieved november 2007
2. ^ Report of the 2006 People's Inquiry into the Impacts and Effects of Aerial Spraying Pesticide over Urban Areas of Auckland, retrieved November 2007