BLUEGUM GALL.

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1440, 15 December 1923, Page 3

BLUEGUM GALL.

A DESTRUCTIVE INSECT. The gall is an insect which attacks bluegums only, and according to the Government Entomologist, Mr D. Miller, it is killing bluegums in practically every part of New Zealand. There is no way of coping with the pest except by means of a natural enemy. “Some years ago,” remarked Mr Miller. “I instituted inquiries in Australia and Tasmania in an endeavour to locate this pest in Tasmania, since bluegum is a native of that State, but it was only recently that some definite results have been obtained in regard to the matter. In •this research I have received valuable assistance from Mr L. Evans, Secretary for Agriculture, Hobart, and his staff. Mr Evans breeds out insects from various types of galls on bluegums in Tasmania, and sends the insects, preserved in spirits, to me. In the last consignment which he sent there is every reason to believe that the insect we are searching for has at last been located. The next step in the work is to see what insects, if any, are feeding on this pest in Tasmania, keeping it in check there; and if it is possible to locate such beneficial insects, steps will be taken to have them brought to New Zealand and liberated wherever the bluegums are infested. This is an extremely difficult matter since before such beneficial insects can be brought here it is necessary to eliminate from them other parasites which might be living on them —secondary parasites.”