We’re now in the high-risk season for fruit flies and the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) – some of the kiwifruit industry’s most unwanted pests.

The latest updates for each are now available on the KVH website, showing that since the start of the high-risk season in September:

· there have been no live BMSB finds

· one dead BMSB and one Yellow Spotted Stink Bug were found post-border and investigated by Biosecurity New Zealand

· there have been no finds of Queensland Fruit Fly (QFF)

· there have been three phone enquiries about fruit flies to the pest and disease hotline and one person submitted a suspected fruit fly for investigation, which was identified as a caterpillar.

The BMSB and fruit fly risk updates produced by KVH each month include data about any detections, explain the range of activities and actions underway by industry and Biosecurity New Zealand to manage the risk these threats pose, and our preparedness in case they get here.