September marked the start of the high-risk season for Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) and to date there have been four separate live detections, compared to two for the same period last season.

All four detections were associated with passengers recently returned to New Zealand from overseas travels. Read more in the latest KVH risk update here.

In addition, the national surveillance programme is about to get underway, which involves 160 traps throughout the country inspected every 10 days from mid-November. The lure traps monitor for BMSB on or near specific hosts at high-risk sites.

After a successful trial last year, KVH is again working this season with kiwifruit postharvest organisations on our own industry surveillance network. There will be two traps each at 16 kiwifruit packing facilities across Mount Maunganui, Te Puke and Te Puna/Katikati, checked fortnightly during the season.