Biological control investigation: Fruit piercing moths and passionfruit white scale in Samoa

• Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Samoa

Insect populations that grow to plague proportions when introduced to new areas can often be remedied by biological control. This project sought to control populations of fruit-piercing moth and passionfruit white scale that were destroying fruit crops in Samoa. Scientists tested and found effective a parasitising wasp that brought the scale under control in less than two years. Control of the fruit-piercing moth centred on identifying suitable control agents in PNG, from where the moth originates, and testing them on populations in Samoa as well as Fiji and Tonga.