Redbacks found at Auck.

Press, 2 May 1984, Page 6

Redbacks found at Auck.

PA Auckland Redback spiders have been found in a container from Brisbane on the Auckland waterfront. Watersiders said that up to 100 more containers might need to be examined to see if they also contain poisonous spiders. The secretary of the Auckland Watersiders’ Union, Mr Scott Ritchie, said yesterday that the spiders were found in one of

four L.C.O. containers on Monday. (L.C.O. containers must be opened upon arrival.) Between 80 and 100 F.C.L. containers (which can be delivered without being opened) could also harbour spiders, he said. He said that if F.C.L. containers came from Brisbane, they should also be checked to ensure that other spiders were not being imported.

A report last month suggested that redback spiders similar to, if not identical to, New Zealand’s own katipo spider were now widespread in New Zealand. The Ministry of Agriculture’s regional quarantine officer in Auckland, Mr Travis Flint, said that the spiders were coming in regularly. This was of concern from a public health point of view but not from an agricultural one, he

said. Mr Flint said yesterday that he was told of the redbacks in the Brisbane container by a fellow officer. The service was investigating the matter but he did not know what steps were being taken. A Ministry of Agriculture entomologist said in March that he doubted redbacks would survive in Auckland as they required very dry conditions.