NEWLY-DISCOVERED PEST.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17750, 30 April 1923, Page 13

NEWLY-DISCOVERED PEST.

DANGER FROM LACEBARK. (SPECIAL TO "THIS PBESB. ') NELSON, April 29. A little time ago Mr E. B. Martin, of Grove street, while undertaking some building alterations at his house, had about a thousand feet of wellsoasoued rlinu stacked in his garden under some lacebark trees (Hoheria Populhia). In the course of a few days the whole of this timber was found to be affected by what appeared to be a borer of considerable size, and some of the wood was made sightly by the numerous holes and the fino dust thrown out from them. An examination of the position showed that the "borers" were insect larva 3, which wero living in thousands in the seeds of tho lacebark trees, and had descended on to tho rimu and bored into it. Specimens of the damaged wood, and the infected seeds of lacebark were submitted by Mr Martin to the Biological Department of the Cawthron Institute, where they have been carefully examined by Dr. Tillyard and "Mr Philpott. There can be no doubt, Dr. Tillyard states, that this is a new pest, as far as Nelson is concerned, and that it may, in course of time, become abundant and do damage to timber left within its reach. The borer is the larva of a moth belonging to one iof the two families oecophoridffi or xyloryetidffi, and very probably came from • ustralia in the first instance. It will not be possible to determine this point until specimens of the moth have been reared to maturity. This will probably take until next spring. In/felie meantime, people are warned .not/to store timber anywhere in the vicinity of lacebark 1 trees, and those who have such trees in their gardens are asked to examine them to see whether the seeds are infected with these caterpillars, which are about half an inch long, of a dirty nosh colour, sometimes tinged with greenish and with brownish spots on the body,' and a small; hard black head. The larva bores into wood for the purpose of pupating, the entrance hole being about one-twelfth of an inch in diameter.