🚨 🚨🚨 Male Queensland fruit fly (Bactrocera tryoni) detection in Mt Roskill, Auckland
6:30pm 8 January 2026 update Includes map showing control zones
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7 January 2026
"As a precautionary measure, restrictions will be put in place on the movement of fruit and vegetables out of the area. Information for the public about these controls and the exact area affected will be issued once we have completed an initial investigation.
Until then, we ask that people who live and work in the suburb not take any whole fresh fruit and vegetables out of their properties."
Biosecurity New Zealand investigating and boosting trapping after finding fruit fly in Auckland. https://www.mpi.govt.nz/news/media-releases/biosecurity-new-zealand-investigating-and-boosting-trapping-after-finding-fruit-fly-in-auckland Press Release: Biosecurity New Zealand. 7 January 2026. Scoop. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK2601/S00114/biosecurity-new-zealand-investigating-and-boosting-trapping-after-finding-fruit-fly-in-auckland.htm
Details: Queensland fruit fly detection in Mt Roskill, Auckland.https://www.mpi.govt.nz/biosecurity/exotic-pests-and-diseases-in-new-zealand/active-biosecurity-responses-to-pests-and-diseases/queensland-fruit-fly-detection-in-mt-roskill-auckland
Fruit fly found in Auckland suburb; restrictions in place https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/583422/fruit-fly-found-in-auckland-suburb-restrictions-in-place RNZ 7 January 2026
Also republished by
1news https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/01/07/fruit-fly-found-in-auckland-suburb-restrictions-in-place/ and NZ Herald https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/fruit-fly-found-in-auckland-suburb-restrictions-in-place/JWPENFQBRRGM3NJAIBVPGIWMPM/
#Biosecurity#Auckland #TāmakiMakaurau #MtRoskill #Aotearoa #NewZealand
Legal controls on the movement of fruits and vegetables are now in place in Mt Roskill, says Biosecurity New Zealand commissioner north, Mike Inglis. The restrictions follow the detection of a single male Queensland fruit fly in a surveillance trap in the area.
How this little bird ended up on South Australia's most wanted list
By Selina Green
The sighting of a single red-whiskered bulbul in the wild might not seem like a big deal, but this invasive pest could put crops and the environment at risk.
#Birds #FruitCrops #AgriculturalCrops #Biosecurity #SelinaGreen
@rnzbot_nz The venomous noble false widow spider was first detected in NZ by people uploading photos of it to #iNaturalist. The earliest find was a photo uploaded from Porirua back in 2020, identified this year.
The first Christchurch observations were made this year by Dustin Edmundson, a postgrad at #LincolnUniversityNZ who is about to start his PhD on NZ spiders. Dustin wrote a handy journal post on #iNaturalistNZ about how to identify the noble false widow in NZ and separate it from other similar looking spiders.
As the RNZ article mentions, it's surprising that more of these have not been reported given the media attention it's had this year. Maybe they are just beginning to spread in NZ. It would be useful if more people were looking out for them.
Female Steatoda nobilis in web, Christchurch. © own work; CC-BY 4.0. Learn how to identify Steatoda nobilis, the noble false widow, and its relatives in Aotearoa New Zealand. Despite recent media coverage, readers may be surprised to learn that the noble false widow is in fact the third Steatoda species to be introduced to New Zealand, joining the already extremely common [S. capensis](https://inaturalist.nz/taxa/202012-Steatoda-capensis) and [S. grossa](https://inaturalist.nz/taxa/61997-Steatoda-grossa). These two species are so ubiquitous in NZ that most houses in the country likely have at least a few in residence, often unbeknownst to the human occupants! There are also two Steatoda species native to New Zealand, [S. lepida](https://inaturalist.nz/taxa/408048-Steatoda-lepida) and [S. truncata](https://inaturalist.nz/taxa/397427-Steatoda-truncata), which are not commonly encountered as they are small and only live in natural habitats such as coastal dunes, mountainous areas, an...
Flower growers see red over glyphosate import rule change
By Laurissa Smith and Warwick Long
The Australian government says it plans to stop treating imported flowers with glyphosate, but local growers are not happy and are raising biosecurity concerns.
#Biosecurity #NurseryandFlowerProduction #FederalGovernment #LaurissaSmith #WarwickLong
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