Niue Pest Survey 2001 Niue Pest Survey Short Term Consultancy - Final Report E.H.C. McKenzie Landcare Research Private Bag 92170, Auckland New Zealand W. Liebregts Eco-Consult Pacific PO Box 5406, Raiwaqa, Suva Fiji B. M. Tairea Ministry of Agriculture PO Box 96, Rarotonga Cook Islands Landcare Research Contract Report: LC PREPARED FOR: SPC Plant Protection Service, Private Mail Bag, Suva, Fiji DATE: July 2001 Niue Pest Survey 2001 © Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd 2001 No part of this work covered by copyright may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, information retrieval systems, or otherwise) without the written permission of the publisher or SPC Plant Protection Service. Disclaimer The findings in this report are specific to this project. Landcare Research accepts no responsibility where information in the report is used for any other purpose, and will not be liable for any loss or damage suffered as a result of such other use. Niue Pest Survey 2001 Contents 1. Terms of Reference 2. Introduction 3. Previous Pest Records 3.1 Arthropod Pests 3.2 Diseases 4. Present Survey 4.1 Crops Examined 4.2. New Pests and Diseases recorded 5. Most Serious Pests 5.1 Arthropods 5.2 Diseases 5.3 Weeds 6. Database of Pests 7. References 8. Acknowledgments 9. Itinerary Appendix 1: Arthropod specimens collected for identification. Niue Pest Survey 2001 1. Terms of Reference The duration of the consultancy is for 10 days. The first part of the consultancy is scheduled in Niue from 8 to 15 October 2000 and the remaining 3 days will be for reviewing databases, literature and report preparation. (1) The consultant will report to the Plant Protection Adviser, (PPA) Suva, Fiji Islands. (2) The consultant is to act as a Leader and a plant pathologist of a Team of max. 4 specialists and consisting of at least one entomologist, to implement a pest survey of agricultural and forestry crops in Niue. (3) To review, assisted by the consultant entomologist, the current pests (arthropods, diseases and weeds) present in Niue which affect agricultural development in Niue, noting also those of major ecological concern. (4) To update, with assistance from the consultant entomologist, the existing pest lists for relevant crops of Niue. (5) The consultant will prepare the following reports with assistance from other team members: An interim report within 1 month of completing the field mission. A final report detailing the outcomes of the duties assigned numbers 2, 3 and 4 above. The final report should provide a listing of pests and diseases for each host plant as well as a listing in alphabetical order of, respectively, arthropod pests, plant diseases (pathogens, viruses and nematodes, as well as other micro- organisms), and weeds. In addition, the final report should identify the 20 most serious pests (arthropods, diseases and weeds) in the country. A hardcopy of the final report, with submissions from the Ministry of Agriculture and other stakeholders annexed to the report should be submitted no later than 3 month after completion of the field mission. Both the interim and final reports should be submitted as an electronic file to [email protected] 2. Introduction The previous plant pest survey of Niue was carried out in the mid 1970s, as part of the UNDP/FAO- SPEC Survey of Agricultural Pests and Diseases in the South Pacific Area. The present update survey was initiated following recommendations on surveillance and pest lists made at the Tenth Regional Technical Meeting on Plant Protection, Nadi 1999. The consultants (plant pathologists and entomologists) visited Niue for a week in October 2000 to survey, and assess the current situation with plant pests. Niue Pest Survey 2001 3. Previous Pest Records 3.1 Arthropod Pests Arthropod pests were sampled by J.S. Dugdale and P.A. Maddison as part of the UNDP/FAO- SPEC Survey of Agricultural Pests and Diseases in the South Pacific Area (Maddison 1989). Although most pests were identified to species in the following years, full publication of the results was never completed, and the identities of many species collected during the survey have yet to be adequately recorded in an accessible format and/or published. Many of the identities of pests collected are summarised in Stout (1982). Further information on records of scarab beetles, scale insects, and noctuid moths were provided by Crosby (1994). De Barro (1997) reported on results of a Pacific-wide whitefly survey and provided new whitefly records for Niue. MAF NZ (unpublished) provided details on pest interceptions on produce originating from Niue between 1993 and May 2000. Furthermore, a report by Manson (1972) on the presence of the mite Rhizoglyphus minutus on taro corms imported into New Zealand from Niue and which has remained unnoticed to date, has now been included in the pest list. 3.2 Diseases Details of holdings of fungal pathogens from Niue, held in the New Zealand Fungal Herbarium, were extracted from the associated Herbarium Database. The specimens on which most of these records are based were collected in 1975. At that time two pathologists (R.A. Fullerton and E.H.C. McKenzie) each made a one-week trip to Niue as part of the UNDP/FAO- SPEC Survey of Agricultural Pests and Diseases in the South Pacific Area. The 1975 records were published in Dingley et al. (1981). Similarly, records of plant viruses were extracted from the UNDP/FAO-SPEC Survey (Mossop & Fry, 1984). There appear to be no further published records of fungal plant diseases since 1981, and the only additional record of plant viruses is of two vanilla viruses (Pearson et al., 1993). 4. Present Survey 4.1 Crops Examined The consultants visited as many areas of Niue as possible to survey for pests and diseases of agricultural crops. It was decided to concentrate mainly on those crops listed by Stout (1982). The following species were examined, but in many cases only a few plants were seen (marked with an asterisk *). For example, only one short row of young peanuts was seen, and a few scattered plants of maize. Arrowroot (Tacca leontopetaloides) *Avocado (Persea americana) Banana (Musa spp.) *Beetroot/silver beet (Beta vulgaris) *Bele (Abelmoschus manihot) Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) Chinese cabbage (Brassica chinensis) *English cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) *Capsicum (Capsicum annuum) Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Citrus (Citrus spp.) Niue Pest Survey 2001 Coconut (Cocos nucifera) Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) *Eggplant (Solanum melongena) *Kava (Piper methysticum) *Maize (Zea mays) Mango (Mangifera indica) Nonu (Morinda citrifolia) *Onion (Allium cepa) Orchid (Orchidaceae) Pandanus (Pandanus spp.) Papaya (Carica papaya) *Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) Taro (Colocasia esculenta) *Giant taro (Alocasia macrorrhizos) *Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) Vanilla (Vanilla spp.) Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) *Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo var. melopepo) Insect samples were collected from most of the crops listed above. Ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) were collected from crops and from the Huvalu Rainforest Reserve. Where appropriate, insect specimens were reared under ambient temperatures for development to adult stage to facilitate pest identification. Where time was not sufficient to obtain pest specimens for identification to species, samples were left behind for further incubation and development into adults under supervision by DAFF staff, and arrangements made for their shipment to New Zealand. Specimens were labeled and preserved in vials with 80% ethanol, or stored dry. Specimens were hand delivered for identification to Dr Peter Maddison, Auckland, New Zealand. Photographs were made of pest specimens and typical damage symptoms. Approximately 100 disease specimens were collected. However, many of these were additional collections of the same diseases collected in 1975, or were on non-targeted host species. The dried specimens were taken to Landcare Research NZ laboratories, Mt Albert for identification. Some cultures were isolated from diseased plants, and these were sent to CABI, UK. for identification. Suspected virus infection in cucurbits and vanilla were sent to experts in Australia and New Zealand for confirmation and identification. An unidentified pest B possibly a disease or a nutritional disorder B was found causing severe damage to most trees in a mahogany plantation near the airport in Alofi. Trees suffered serious dieback of young shoots including the apex (?), resulting in the trees producing more branches, reducing the quality of the timber. Leaves were found to become necrotic at the leaf edges going towards the centre. No symptoms suggestive of insect damage, or any sporulating structures of fungi were observed by the team. The symptoms were observed only at the end of the survey, and there was no time to attempt isolation of any pathogenic fungi. Pests and diseases collected during the survey that could not be identified in the field and were sent for identification are shown in Appendix 1. 4.2. New Pests and Diseases recorded Niue Pest Survey 2001 Arthropod Pests Pest Scientific Name Host Plant Remarks Pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi Carica papaya Agricultural pest - new record for Niue Trioza (=Megatriza) concava Planchonella sp. New record for Niue; new record of host plant Earias vitella Abelmoschus manihot Agricultural pest - new record for Niue Stomphastis sp. Macaranga