Lilly pilly beetle: Should we be concerned for the New Zealand native maire tawake?
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Authors
Owen, Jemma
Goodwin, Ben
Webb, Wesley
Smith, Toby
Adams, Nigel
Fraser, Diane
Goodwin, Ben
Webb, Wesley
Smith, Toby
Adams, Nigel
Fraser, Diane
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Date
2025-07
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Conference Contribution - Poster Presentation
Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)
Keyword
New Zealand
swamp maire (Syzygium maire)
maire tawake
lilly pilly (Syzygium species)
garden hedging plants
lilly pilly beetle (Paropsides calypso)
invasive species
swamp maire (Syzygium maire)
maire tawake
lilly pilly (Syzygium species)
garden hedging plants
lilly pilly beetle (Paropsides calypso)
invasive species
ANZSRC Field of Research Code (2020)
Citation
Owen, J., Goodwin, B., Webb, W., Smith, T., Adams, N., & Fraser, D. (2025, July, 23-25). Lilly pilly beetle: Should we be concerned for the New Zealand native maire tawake? [Poster presentation]. New Zealand Biosecurity Institute NETS conference, Palmerston North.
https://hdl.handle.net/10652/7047
Abstract
The lilly pilly beetle (Paropsides calypso) originates from the subtropical rainforests in northern New South Wales, Australia and the coastal regions of south eastern Australia, has established in the Auckland region, New Zealand. It is a voracious foliage consumer of at least three Australian Syzygium species, which are commonly used as garden hedges in New Zealand. Maire tawake or swamp maire (Syzygium maire) is a threatened New Zealand endemic swamp forest tree species. We tested whether S. maire was a suitable host plant for P. calypso. We starved beetles or larvae for 24 h before exposing then to mature leaves of the New Zealand Swap maire (30 leaves) or the Australian native S. australe (30 leaves) for 48 hours. Each leaf was traced on 2mm x 2mm grid paper before and after exposure to the beetles or larvae and the extent of leaf damage around the margins was determined. No damage was seen in any of the S. maire leaves with either P. calypso adult or larvae. The average percentage of damaged perimeter of S. australe by adults was 20% (SE 2.32) and larvae 18% (SE 2.70). The lack of herbivory by P. calypso on the endemic S. marie suggests this introduced insect may not impact this native endemic species. Further research could consider whether young growth of swamp maire (S. maire) is potentially palatable
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