Fire ant eradicated at Port of Napier
Aerial application of fire ant bait on Napier's
Bluff Hill at the Port of Napier
New Zealand’s second incursion of red imported fire ant (RIFA, Solenopsis invicta) has been declared eradicated.
The incursion was detected as part of the national invasive ant surveillance programme, an annual survey that targets high-risk points of entry for exotic ants. A single nest was found at the Port of Napier in early 2004 and immediately treated. The nest site was monitored through the year to ensure nest eradication was complete, and RIFA information sheets were mailed out to all residents within 1 kilometre. Intensive delimiting surveys were conducted over two summers, during which more than 40,000 attractant baits were laid within a 500 metre radius of the nest site. No further RIFA were found.
A third incursion of RIFA was detected at Whirinaki, north of Napier, in June 2006. A single nest was found and has been destroyed. Delimiting surveillance is underway with no further nests detected to date and is scheduled for completion in early 2009. Declaration of the eradication at the Port of Napier was delayed until Biosecurity New Zealand could be sure that the current RIFA incursion at Whirinaki is unrelated to the Port of Napier find.
RIFA, considered one of the world’s worst invasive species, has been increasing its worldwide distribution, with introduced populations in the United States, Australia, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Taiwan. Its painful sting and aggressive nature means RIFA would have serious economic, health and cultural impacts should it establish here, in addition to serious ecological effects.
New Zealand is the only country that has successfully eradicated this ant, thanks largely to early detections and rapid responses.
- Megan Sarty, Senior Adviser, Post-clearance, Biosecurity New Zealand, phone 04 894 0665 or 029 894 0665, megan.sarty@maf.govt.nz
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Page last updated: 30 April 2008