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HERE TO STAY: controlling= the=20 clover-root weevil will be a daunting=20 task.
AgResearch

3D""=20

BEAUTIFUL BEAST: Dr Craig= =20 Phillips examines a clover-root weevil found= in=20 the South Island.
CARYS MONTEATH/The=20 Press

War declared on $1b weevil pest

21 April 2= 006=20
3D""=20

The phoney war is over and the battle is on = after=20 the discovery of a second clover-root-weevil community i= n the=20 South Island this month. DAVID KING asks what is next in= the=20 fight against the evil weevil.

"They're actually quite beautif= ul=20 creatures under the microscope," says entomologist Dr Cr= aig=20 Phillips of the long-dead clover-root weevil specimen in= his=20 fingers, dubbed the $1 billion pest because of its destr= uctive=20 capability.

"The reason they are pests is t= hat they=20 are in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Beautiful or not, clover-root w= eevils are=20 definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time and are = now=20 the Mainland's agricultural enemy No. 1 after an AgResea= rch=20 team discovered an established colony in Richmond near N= elson.=20

AgResearch and the farming comm= unity had=20 hoped the discovery of the first community near Christch= urch=20 airport in February was a one-off. No more had been unco= vered=20 in weeks of sampling or by the team of willing volunteer= =20 farmers who had posted suspicious-looking weevils to=20 AgResearch at Lincoln.

But the team was nearing the en= d of its=20 second day of a pre-Easter field trip to take samples fr= om=20 around North Canterbury, Buller and Nelson farms, when i= t came=20 to a suspicious-looking pasture. Sure enough, a mature c= olony=20 of the Mediterranean pests that have caused $300 million= of=20 damage in the North Island were happily snacking away. T= he=20 race is now on to put together an action plan to prevent= the=20 pest from spreading and costing New Zealand agriculture= =20 between $200m and $1b a year.

Phillips is an AgResearch senio= r=20 scientist in biocontrol and biosecurity and also science= =20 leader for Better Border Security, a Government-funded=20 biosecurity venture. He is leading the team taking on th= e=20 weevil in the south.

While farmers' jaws hit the gro= und when=20 they read about the second discovery on Easter Saturday,= there=20 is actually good news on some fronts. The first is that = there=20 is already a biocontrol ready to go.

A tiny parasitic wasp, Microcto= nus=20 aethiopoides, has proved a success in the fight and has= =20 Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma) permissio= n for=20 release. Microctonus aethiopoides, which hails from Irel= and,=20 has been released in three North Island trials and is sh= owing=20 good potential.

The 3mm-long wasp, whose name m= eans=20 little assassin or murderer, injects weevils with an egg= that=20 makes the female sterile. Wasp larvae grow inside the we= evil,=20 killing it when the last larval stage bursts out of the = host's=20 body.

The little murderer's larvae gr= ow into=20 adult wasps, which then head off to start the deadly wor= k all=20 over again.

While the wasp is spreading in = the North=20 Island and ready to start work here, the other good news= is=20 that Lincoln scientists have worked on the clover-root-w= eevil=20 problem for a long time.

Research into biological contro= l began in=20 1997 and culminated in the release this year. The Lincol= n=20 laboratory was used to testing weevil samples which, unt= il=20 now, had been sent from the North Island.

Now the laboratory does not hav= e to go=20 far to find weevils, but Phillips does not see it as a s= ilver=20 lining in the weevil cloud.

"It's a tiny glimmer of silver,= perhaps."=20

AgResearch still has a small cu= lture of=20 biocontrol at its Lincoln laboratory, and will step up a= mass=20 breeding programme as it prepares for release.

Fortunately, Microctonus aethio= poides=20 wasps are no slugs when it comes to breeding. "We can gr= ow=20 their population quickly," he says. "It should take thre= e=20 months to get the first release organised."

He says AgResearch wants to mak= e its=20 first releases by the end of this winter. "We would love= to=20 get on with it quickly."

Scientists have a second weapon= in their=20 armoury, in the form of a fungal pathogen from Romania.= =20

It was discovered several years= ago when=20 the Kiwis were scouring the world for weapons in the wee= vil=20 war.

Phillips came across the specim= en while=20 working in a laboratory in France, and says trials in th= e=20 North Island have gone well.

The fungus infects and kills we= evil=20 larvae and pupae in the soil. AgResearch is testing the = fungus=20 as a biological insecticide, applying a granular formula= tion=20 to the soil with a seed drill to try to protect clover r= oots=20 from feeding damage.

Using a pathogen is harder work= than the=20 wasp, but it is another good string in the team's bow, s= ays=20 Phillips.

The big questions farmers want = answers to=20 now are what funding is in place for the fight, and wher= e it=20 begins.

Negotiations over funding to fi= ght the=20 weevil are in progress with Government agencies and the= =20 pastoral industries.

Phillips does not want to talk = about=20 budgets or funding while negotiations are continuing, ot= her=20 than to say that he is happy with the progress. <= /P>

"It's top of the priority list = now."=20

He is keen to consult intereste= d parties,=20 including farmers and regional councils.

Farmers' livelihoods are at sta= ke, but=20 the councils' economic and environmental bases are also= =20 threatened.

Because weevils reduce clover's= ability=20 to fix nitrogen, farmers must compensate by spreading mo= re=20 fertiliser, which changes the environmental dynamics for= the=20 local authorities. Having to apply extra nitrogen not on= ly=20 hits farmers in the pocket, but it costs the environment= .=20

Phillips says the next step is = to find=20 support to carry out a more comprehensive study to try t= o find=20 localised populations of weevils – in short to map= them and=20 find where the little beauties are.

When he whizzes through the cou= ntryside=20 past countless hectares of green pasture, he realises th= e size=20 of the task is daunting. "It's so random that it could b= e=20 anywhere," he says. But luck has again been on the scien= tists'=20 side. A trap they developed to capture weevils has turne= d out=20 to be effective. Phillips also thinks they have latched = on to=20 the problem early.

"We think we found it reasonabl= y early=20 because the feedback we've had from farmers so far has b= een=20 negative."

The weevil hunters want to get = in early=20 and get going. "If we can find the local populations qui= ckly=20 and make the (biological control) releases there, we kno= w the=20 parasitised weevils won't be able to fly very well, and = that=20 would reduce the spread across the South Island," says=20 Phillips. "The sooner we do it the better.

"The struggle is to free the re= sources=20 and workloads to get people to do it."

Getting extra staff is a possib= ility, and=20 the team is about to be bolstered by the arrival of Dr S= cott=20 Hardwick, who has worked on the North Island clover-root= =20 weevil for several years.

The Richmond weevil population,= where=20 hundreds were found, was well established and is the bes= t=20 place for the first release of the wasp. All going well,= the=20 little murderers will be in by the end of winter going a= bout=20 their deadly work.

Phillips describes the Richmond= discovery=20 as "the nail in the coffin".

"The farmer remembered seeing g= rubs at=20 least a year ago. The upside is that we know where to fo= cus.=20 We know where the first release should be."

Farmers can also make a bit of = the luck=20 themselves. They are potentially the eyes and ears of th= e=20 AgResearch team and Phillips hopes they will continue to= help.=20

He gets at least one or two sam= ples in=20 the mail each day, and wants farmers to send any they th= ink=20 are suspicious.

If the weevils arrive, there ar= e some=20 valuable lessons to be learnt from the North Island=20 experience.

Clover-root weevils compete wit= h cattle=20 to eat clover. They inhibit clover's ability to fix nitr= ogen=20 and put the plant under stress.

The impact makes clover more fr= agile, so=20 whatever farmers can do to ease the stress helps. This m= eans=20 avoiding trampling, pugging and overgrazing.

"If you reduce the stress on th= e clover,=20 it is better able to survive the weevil."

The AgResearch team has eight m= embers.=20 Phillips describes himself as the "jack of all trades bu= t=20 master of none" whose job is to keep the team communicat= ing=20 and working effectively.

The team includes three genetic= ists who=20 identify the species, two population modellers who speci= alise=20 in the mathematics needed to work out how the population= is=20 spreading and what controls will work, one ecologist who= =20 understands farming systems, and two insect-pathogen=20 specialists.

Phillips has spent almost 20 ye= ars in the=20 business, and says the more he knows about weevils, the = more=20 he understands them. "The more I know about them, the mo= re I=20 respect them. They are not boring little bugs; they are= =20 sophisticated creatures that are well adapted to survive= and=20 breed.

"I look at them and admire the = evolution=20 that's created them. All organisms will find a way to su= rvive=20 no matter what."

The spread of weevils south was= =20 inevitable, and now the industry has to adapt and manage= the=20 problem as best it can.

"Weevils are here to stay. You = can't get=20 rid of them and there's no technology we are aware of th= at=20 will.

"I think we are going to be liv= ing with=20 them for the foreseeable future."



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