Situation of Exotic Pests and Their Control in Australia

摘要

In Australia, citrus was introduced in 1778 with the first fleet, and red scale arrived by the early 1800s. HCN was used to gas trees from 1900s ～ 1965, and by the 1950s organophosphates were also heavily used, followed by carbamates. The foundations for current IPM programs were laid from the 1940s to the 1970s when key parasitoids of white wax scale and of red scale were successfully introduced and established. The combined use of AMOs and HMOs allowing the natural enemy populations to increase and the effects of the natural enemies reduced pesticide use and costs by 50% ～ 90% from 1975 ～ 1990. The quarantine regulations were first enforced around the 1920s and because Australia does not have many of the diseases and pests found in other countries it has enforced a relatively strict system. In the current 2002 ～ 2003 period, the Australian government increased spending on quarantine, containment and eradication by more than $ 190M ( $ US 100) . Fifteen percent of this is for containment and eradication of the red imported fire ant, which has recently been found in SE Queensland. Major methods of pest control involve biological control, cultural control including conservation, mechanical and physical control, and chemical control. Pesticides should only be used when other methods have failed to keep pests below the required level. Then pesticides that cause less harm to natural enemies should be used.