WHITE BUTTERFLY PEST

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21414, 5 March 1935, Page 9

WHITE BUTTERFLY PEST

♦ HOPE OF GENERAL CONTROL LIBERATION OF PARASITES IN CANTERBURY BEGUN With the liberation of parasites to deal with the white butterfly at Timaru la%t week, the war against this pest was begun in Canterbury, and it was carried a stage further yesterday when there were liberations in Heathcote. It is hoped that later in the week there will be further liberations in the Kaikoura district. The parasites are insects which have been imported from Europe, and have been distributed by the Government entomologist at Palmerston North. The insects lay their eggs on the caterpillar of the butterfly, and when the eggs hatch, the young insects feed on the caterpillar on which they were' born. About 11,000 of the insects were liberated in the Timaru district on the property of Mr George Benstead, and yesterday the liberations at Heathcote numbered about 8000. Mr R. McGillivray stated yesterday that when he visited Kaikoura last week he found that considerable damage had been done to rape and similar crops there. He hoped to be able to liberate as many as 15,000 in those districts very soon.

Mr McGillivray, who is Fields Superintendent of the Department of Agriculture, also mentioned that he did not hope for a complete destruction of the white butterfly, but was confident of a considerable control of its ravages. When a pest of that sort became at all established, it was unlikely that any steps that were taken would eradicate it altogether. Much of the damage to crops and vegetables that was being at present attributed to the caterpillar of the white butterfly was really the work of other pests, and the butterfly was being blamed for much damage that it was not responsible for. The Department of Agriculture had received many complaints of destruction from farmers and residents, that on inspection proved to have been caused by other insects, and on many occasions the flowers and plants that had been damaged were of a kind never attacked by the white butterfly. The possibilities of sparrovq attacking the white butterflies was also mentioned by Mr McGillivray yesterday. He stated that reports had been received that this was the case, but he had not yet seen proof of it.