Short Communication: Observation of western honeybee (Apis mellifera) foraging urediniospores from myrtle-rust infected maire tawake (Syzygium maire), Ōwairaka/Mt Albert, Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland, New Zealand,
Schmid, L.M.H.; Large, Mark; Galbraith, Mel; de Lange, Peter
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2021-06-06Link to ePress publication:
https://www.unitec.ac.nz/epress/index.php/short-communication-observation-of-western-honeybee-apis-mellifera-foraging-urediniospores-from-myrtle-rust-infected-maire-tawake-syzygium-maire-owairaka-mt-albert-tamaki-makaurau-auckland-new/Citation:
Schmid, L.M.H., Large, M.F., Galbraith, M., & de Lange, P.J. (2021). Short Communication: Observation of western honeybee (Apis mellifera) foraging urediniospores from myrtle-rust infected maire tawake (Syzygium maire), Ōwairaka/Mt Albert, Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland, New Zealand,. Perspectives in Biosecurity, 6, 1-7.Permanent link to Research Bank record:
https://hdl.handle.net/10652/5401Abstract
Following the detection of myrtle rust disease, caused by the rust fungus Austropuccinia psidii, in New Zealand in May 2017, concerns were raised that western honeybees (Apis mellifera) might forage for and collect Austropuccinia spores. Whilst inspecting cultivated maire tawake (Syzygium maire) trees on the Mt Albert Unitec New Zealand campus infected with myrtle rust, we observed honeybees collecting the urediniospores of this rust. Here we document this observation with images to add further evidence that honeybees present a potentially serious vector in the spread of this rust throughout New Zealand.