Fall armyworm detected as far south as Bundaberg

On April 3, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries confirmed the pest had been found at Bundaberg.

"A single moth was found in one of the department's state-wide network of fall armyworm traps," a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries said.

"This is not unexpected as fall armyworm is highly mobile and can fly long distances with suitable weather conditions."

The pest is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas and was first detected on the Torres Strait islands of Saibai and Erub in January 2020.

RELATED READING

It has been found in several locations across Queensland including Bamaga, Croydon, South Johnstone, Tolga, Lakeland, the Burdekin, Bowen and now Bundaberg.

Earlier this month, the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Resources confirmed the first detection in the NT.

Four adult moths were captured in a trap in Katherine and morphological analysis and molecular diagnostic testing was conducted, confirming the case.

Specimens were subsequently detected in traps located in the Darwin and Douglas-Daly regions. There has also been a confirmed case in northern Western Australia.

Bundaberg Fruit and Vegetable Growers (BFVG) managing director, Bree Grima, said the detection was cause for concern for the thriving agricultural industry.

"This exotic pest has a huge appetite from citrus, mango, melon, sweet corn and cucurbits through to sugar cane," Ms Grima said.

"It's important to recognise not all crops are affected equally, melons for example do not appear to suffer from crop loss however it is expected that sweetcorn will be most susceptible to damage."

Queensland farmers, who think they may have found the pest when conducting bug checks, are urged to photograph and report sightings to DAF on 13 25 23 or to their local biosecurity officer or extension officer.