{"id":764095,"date":"2026-06-27T17:11:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T17:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/764095\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T17:11:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T17:11:25","slug":"experts-warn-the-polyphagous-shot-hole-borer-could-wreak-havoc-on-brisbanes-parks-if-it-reaches-the-east-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/764095\/","title":{"rendered":"Experts warn the polyphagous shot-hole borer could wreak havoc on Brisbane’s parks if it reaches the east coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

An insidious pest the size of a sesame seed could destroy some of Brisbane’s urban oases if it makes its way to the east coast, experts warn.<\/p>\n

The polyphagous shot-hole borer, just two millimetres long, has already decimated 4,800 trees in Perth.<\/p>\n

Urban greens like Brisbane’s New Farm Park could be a target for the beetle due to its Moreton Bay fig trees which have been identified as having “very high” susceptibility as a host species.<\/p>\n

Experts also fear the insect would decimate north Queensland’s $175 million avocado industry.<\/p>\n

\"Kids<\/p>\n

Brisbane’s iconic Moreton Bay figs have been identified as having “very high” susceptibility as a host species. (ABC News: Liz Pickering)<\/p>\n

A Western Australian government-funded paper, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Biogeography in January this year, showed the beetle has not yet reached the parts of Australia where it is most likely to thrive, such as Brisbane.<\/p>\n

Greenlife Industry Queensland chief executive Colin Fruk warned the borer could kill even some of the biggest Moreton Bay figs in New Farm Park, which were planted at the start of World War I.<\/p>\n

“If that happens, then we’ll lose the environment that we’re so used to enjoying,” he said.<\/p>\n

Pest sparks biosecurity response<\/p>\n

The beetle is native to south-east Asia but has also spread to Spain, Israel, the USA, South Africa and parts of South America.<\/p>\n

It eats more than 500 identified plant species, including the Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophylla).<\/p>\n

\"Small<\/p>\n

The polyphagous shot-hole borer, just two millimetres long, has already killed thousands of trees since its arrival in Australia. (ABC News: Pia Scanlon , DPIRD)<\/p>\n

Entomologist with the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Forest Research Institute, associate professor Simon Lawson, described the borer as “the worst tree pest in the world”.<\/p>\n

“They fly from tree to tree, but it’s actually quite a lazy beetle,” Dr Lawson said.<\/p>\n

“It prefers to stay in the same tree \u2026 once the tree’s deteriorated, then it will fly on to another tree.<\/p>\n

“They’re the first farmers, in a way. They need the fungus to survive, and the fungus needs the beetle. Once they lay their eggs, the larvae feed on the fungus”.<\/p>\n

The fungus then destroys the tree.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Experts have labelled the shot-hole borer the “worst tree pest in the world”. (Supplied: Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development)<\/p>\n

The pest was first detected in Western Australia in August 2021, before it destroyed some of Perth’s most iconic trees in Kings Park and Hyde Park, and sparked the biggest biosecurity response in the state’s history<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How the pest arrived in Australia is not known, but it was discovered by a member of the public in a garden tree in suburban Perth.<\/p>\n

The Invasive Species Council said it may have come into the country via wooden products or wooden shipping materials.<\/p>\n

No ‘fool-proof’ plan<\/p>\n

After a multimillion-dollar effort, the WA government was forced to concede that eradication was not possible, and instead turned efforts to slowing the spread of the pest.<\/p>\n

Shot-hole borer threat grows<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s barely the size of a sesame seed, but the shot-hole borer has quickly devastated Western Australia’s tree canopy. Experts are warning other states and territories to take action now to avoid a similar fate.<\/p>\n

A quarantine area notice currently applies to the entire Perth metropolitan area, with the government restricting the movement of firewood, green waste, live plants, and plant material.<\/p>\n

“In Western Australia, they identified the insect fairly quickly. But it took a while for them to actually develop the plan to respond and that had devastating consequences,” Mr Fruk said.<\/p>\n

There is no proven treatment for invasion other than tree removal.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

New Farm Park’s large Moreton Bay figs were planted at the beginning of World War I. (ABC News: Liz Pickering)<\/p>\n

The Invasive Species Council’s advocacy director Reece Pianta said no containment plan was “fool-proof”.<\/p>\n

“Once it’s detected, we’ll have days to respond to hole borer, not months,” Mr Pianta said.<\/p>\n

“There needs to be a memorandum of understanding between Brisbane City Council and the state government in the first instance about who will have what responsibilities.”<\/p>\n

Mr Fruk agreed, saying the situation was “just like COVID or a cybersecurity data breach”.<\/p>\n

“The most important thing in addressing this biosecurity threat is making sure that the state and local governments really have a plan to respond, if [the beetle] gets here to Queensland,” Mr Fruk said.<\/p>\n

“We need all levels of government to work together to solve a case as complex as this one.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The insect’s arrival in Australia has sparked calls for “all levels of government” to respond. (ABC News: Liz Pickering)<\/p>\n

Brisbane City Council has not yet received any reports of shot-hole borers, a spokesperson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We are liaising with the Department of Primary Industries to learn more about the pest, and any reports of the Polyphagous Shot-Hole Bore should be made to Biosecurity Queensland.”<\/p>\n

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Primary Industries said “proactive steps” were being taken to prevent the introduction and establishment of the shot-hole borer in Queensland.<\/p>\n

“Biosecurity Queensland undertakes regular surveillance for early detection of polyphagous shot-hole borer in Queensland,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

“This surveillance targets susceptible hosts likely to have visible symptoms, import pathways and approved arrangement facilities around major ports of entry, and high-risk industries such as the forestry, nursery and amenity horticulture industries.”<\/p>\n

The spokesperson said the entire state had been declared a polyphagous shot-hole borer biosecurity zone and strict regulations restricting the movement of high-risk materials from WA into Queensland had been implemented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An insidious pest the size of a sesame seed could destroy some of Brisbane’s urban oases if it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":764096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44625,9326,364336,651,364338,8167,8969,47852,364337,44,47148,94,701,47845,5425],"class_list":["post-764095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-beetles","tag-biosecurity","tag-borer","tag-brisbane","tag-fig-trees","tag-insects","tag-invasive-species","tag-moreton-bay-figs","tag-new-farm-park","tag-news","tag-pests","tag-qld","tag-queensland","tag-shot-hole-borer","tag-trees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=764095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/764096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=764095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=764095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=764095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}