{"id":596722,"date":"2026-09-11T03:38:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T03:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/596722\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T03:38:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T03:38:32","slug":"new-pest-insect-attacks-berry-crops-after-breaching-australian-biosecurity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/596722\/","title":{"rendered":"New pest insect attacks berry crops after breaching Australian biosecurity"},"content":{"rendered":"

A destructive pest insect, detected in Australia for the first time, is destroying millions of dollars’ worth of berry crops and could increase food prices.<\/p>\n

South-east Queensland growers are on the front line of what could become a widespread battle facing fruit, vegetable, flower, nursery and cotton industries, as well as home gardeners.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Adult Frankliniella intonsa thrips swarm on a flower. (Supplied: Brendon Hoyle)<\/p>\n

It is not known how the invasive flower thrips Frankliniella intonsa\u00a0evaded national biosecurity measures meant to keep the pest out of the country.<\/p>\n

Overseas, it is a challenging pest for crops including green beans, zucchinis, cucumbers, melons, capsicums, asparagus, alfalfa, cotton and cut flowers.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Authorities do not know how Frankliniella intonsa flower thrips breached biosecurity. (Supplied: New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science Ltd)<\/p>\n

Measuring 1.2 to 1.8 millimetres long, the tiny flower thrips have attacked strawberry, raspberry and blackberry crops in the Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast regions.<\/p>\n

Biosecurity Queensland officially confirmed Australia’s first detection of the insect in April, in damaged raspberries at an Elimbah farm.<\/p>\n

Strawberry growers in Queensland’s south-east say insecticides have not been able to control the thrips, which are listed as an emergency plant pest, and numbers have exploded.<\/p>\n

Growers are discarding tonnes of damaged fruit at the peak of their season.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

The damaged strawberries blister and turn bronze in colour. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)<\/p>\n

‘Perfect storm of insects’<\/p>\n

Intonsa thrips feed and lay eggs inside fruit blossoms and on young developing fruit.<\/p>\n

Their rasping mouthparts rupture and suck fluids from plant cells, causing scarring that can reduce crop yield, productivity and marketability.<\/p>\n

Although impacted fruit is perfectly safe to eat, it is vulnerable to splitting and rain damage.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Adrian Schultz says Frankliniella intonsa is having a devastating impact. (ABC News: Jessica Ross)<\/p>\n

Queensland Strawberry Growers president Adrian Schultz said Frankliniella intonsa combined with the impact of varroa mite on honey bees had created a “perfect storm of insects”.<\/p>\n

“It’s [intonsa is] absolutely, it’s completely and utterly through all the strawberry-growing areas in south-east Queensland.<\/p>\n

“We’re looking at millions of dollars \u2026 on average most farms [in south-east Queensland] would be losing at least 50 per cent of their crop.”<\/p>\n

Farmers under pressure<\/p>\n

The new pest adds to growers’ financial burdens of bird and rain damage<\/a>, increased wage costs, plus higher packaging and transport prices caused by the Iran war.<\/p>\n

Mr Schultz believes Frankliniella intonsa may have been spreading under the radar for several years and said the industry was working hard to better understand and manage it.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Adult Frankliniella intonsa thrips. (Supplied: Brendon Hoyle)<\/p>\n

“If we have a season like this next year, I’m very, very concerned about growers’ viability,” Mr Schultz said.<\/p>\n

He said strawberry crop losses would likely affect consumers.<\/p>\n

“I wouldn’t be surprised in a couple of weeks if prices are significantly higher than what they are now.”<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Brendan Hoyle has still been able to send sweet, ripe fruit to market. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)<\/p>\n

‘Devastating, scary’<\/p>\n

In the Glass House Mountains, Brendon Hoyle sends only his best, sweet, ripe, red, certified-organic and conventionally grown strawberries to market.<\/p>\n

But pickers are currently composting up to 70 per cent of his fruit.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Brendon Hoyle says he is devastated by the damage caused by the pest. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)<\/p>\n

“It’s been terrible, it’s been devastating \u2026 it’s scary to see the loss,” Mr Hoyle said.<\/p>\n

“Efficiencies are everything for farming, and we rely on high-yielding crops, efficient picking and packing to try to keep production costs down.<\/p>\n

“This throws it all into turmoil because the numbers don’t work anymore, especially when strawberries are relatively cheap in the shops.”<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Adrian Schultz, Brendan Hoyle and Paul Jones inspect thrip-damaged fruit. (ABC News: Jessica Ross)<\/p>\n

Natural predators<\/p>\n

Paul Jones breeds beneficial bugs and helps strawberry growers control harmful insects using natural predators.<\/p>\n

He said before Frankliniella intonsa, other species of thrips living in strawberry crops were “useful plant pollinators” and “tended not to be a problem”.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

From flowers to fruit, Frankliniella intonsa has damaged millions of dollars worth of strawberries this year. (ABC News: Jennifer Nichols)<\/p>\n

“But the impact of this season has been very devastating to growers,” Mr Jones said.<\/p>\n

“It has shocked us all from the damage it has done.”<\/p>\n

The Bugs for Bugs director said natural enemies of the flower thrips included a predatory mite and pirate bug.<\/p>\n

But Mr Jones said by the time they started releasing beneficial insects this year, invading flower thrip populations were too high for the predators to “knock numbers down”.<\/p>\n

“We believe the solution to this problem is beneficial insects, but it’s all about timing.”<\/p>\n

In the meantime, he said customers could help by buying berries.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

New Zealand’s horticulture industry is already battling Frankliniella intonsa flower thrips. (Supplied: New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science Ltd)<\/p>\n

Pest widespread<\/p>\n

Frankliniella intonsa was first officially recorded in New Zealand in 2002, and has also been found in Europe, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, Canada and the United States.<\/p>\n

It thrives in temperatures between 18 and 28 degrees Celsius.<\/p>\n

Mr Jones said the insect could survive a flight from New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Frankliniella intonsa has so far affected raspberries, blackberries and strawberry crops in Queensland. (Supplied: New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science Ltd)<\/p>\n

“Look, it’s a tiny insect. New Zealand’s not far away from here- a three- or four-hour flight. It could have simply got on someone’s clothes, you know, undetected through quarantine,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It could be as simple as that, we don’t know.”<\/p>\n

Nursery concerns<\/p>\n

Greenlife Industry Australia CEO Sean Cole said Frankliniella intonsa was a global pest for nursery and horticultural plants and rotating three or four different pesticides was important to reduce the risk of chemical resistance.<\/p>\n

Mr Cole called for increased vigilance at Australian borders.<\/p>\n

“Although we do have surveillance of incoming passenger and cargo into the country, it’s at a much lower rate than we’d probably like, meaning a lot of stuff does go through to the keeper.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Frankliniella intonsa attacks strawberry flowers. (ABC News: Jessica Ross)<\/p>\n

Impact assessment<\/p>\n

In a statement, Biosecurity Queensland said the department had “undertaken surveillance, diagnostics and technical assessments” for Frankliniella intonsa.<\/p>\n

“Government and industry stakeholders will continue to work together to better understand the distribution, impacts and future management arrangements for this pest,” the statement read.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A destructive pest insect, detected in Australia for the first time, is destroying millions of dollars’ worth of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[6689,9618,13432,7300,273,3233,12026,294152,294151,294150,111,139,69,173669,147,69534,81797,294153],"class_list":["post-596722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-agriculture","tag-berries","tag-biosecurity","tag-blueberries","tag-environment","tag-farm","tag-farmer","tag-flower-thrips","tag-frankliniella-intonsa","tag-insect-pest","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-raspberries","tag-science","tag-strawberries","tag-sunshine-coast","tag-thrips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}