If eradication failed, he expected there would be major costs for farmers in the next five to ten years. It does suggest that fall armyworm has a reasonably broad distribution in Waikato and perhaps Bay of Plenty already.' 'And then the incursion that was detected in Waikato more recently, the population development there is reasonably well-advanced, and you would have to think it has been there most of the summer. New Zealand scientists suspect the species flew across the ditch to Aotearoa, but the moths prefer tropical climates and damage is seasonal, so it is possible infestations here will die in winter.ĪgResearch scientist Dr Craig Phillips, from the Better Border Security research collaboration, said it was an 'ominous sign' that the first eggs were found in surveillance trapping in urban Tauranga. The armyworm has destroyed maize and sweetcorn plants in Africa, the United States and Australia. They get their name from the way they advance en masse with military precision, feasting on the leaves and stems of some 186 plant species, including economically important crops such as wheat, soybeans and sugarcane.The fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda is the name for the pest's larvae.Įggs were found in suburban Tauranga in surveillance traps last month and caterpillars have now been found on two farms in Tamahere, just south of Hamilton. The grubs have a distinctive upside down Y on their heads and four dots on their second-to-last segment. Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is native to the North and South American tropics and measures about 3-4 centimeters (1-1.5 inches). With food supply chains already facing disruption from the trade war and a global epidemic killing pigs, the world is bracing for the advance of what’s been called the “pocket-sized monster.” A recent arrival in China, the fast-moving grub may infest the country’s entire grain-producing farmland within a year. In its first three years in Africa alone, it inflicted $13.3 billion of crop losses. Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia could be next.

The crop-devouring pest has spread from the Americas to Africa and Asia, gorging on rice, corn, vegetables, cotton and more. The fall armyworm is hungry, on the move and scaring farmers the world over.

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