Foreign insects and mites are arguably the biggest threat to the state’s agricultural industry.

The Department of Primary Industry’s Biosecurity Division is critical to the continued success of horticulture in Tasmania – but success doesn’t come easily, entomologist Jamie Davies says.

Mr Davies is one of three insect experts in Tasmania responsible for identifying new and common pests that make their way into the state.

Using what he knows about bugs, he can help the state reveal more about the unknown – which pests we need to avoid and how to prevent their spread on the island state.

‘‘The responsibility doesn’t really play on your mind,’’ Mr Davies says.

Despite being responsible for identifying every six-legged foreign pest that enters the state via airports and ports, he is confident in DPIPWE’s identification system, which features about 150,000 insect records and a national pest database.

Mr Davies, along with senior entomologist Lionel Hill in Devonport, regularly collects species to dissect and document.

‘‘A lot of it is about managing the risk,’’ Mr Davies says.

‘‘A lot of our work comes from quarantine – the interceptions at airports, ports, produce coming in from interstate. Anything live that’s found we have a look at and let them [Quarantine] know if it’s a risk or not.’’

Bugs are  sent in to Biosecurity by the public, collected from state entrances  or personally collected in Mr Hill’s coastal ‘‘light trap’’ – a device with a 400-watt light used to seduce moths and other insects that blow across Bass Strait into Tasmania.

‘‘There are a lot of things that blow across Bass Strait,’’ Mr Davies says.

‘‘Lionel has a light trap and it collects a lot. It’s a big light that traps all sorts of stuff which get collected into a jar with a chemical that kills them. He’ll then get his jar, empty it out and pin them. He gets a sample of things that are migrating in the wind.

‘‘We put the insects in a chemical and that preserves them and they last forever. You take the insect alive, stick it in a solution to dissolve everything out of the middle of the insect so you’re left with the husk, then you dehydrate it through a series of alcohol washes, then you put it on the slide.’’

Fortunately for Mr Davies, a solid identification system minimises the chance of catastrophe.

Unfortunately for him, his job also includes sifting through hundreds of mail-delivered bugs from concerned residents.

It’s time consuming, he says, but it is  highly important that every concern is taken seriously.

‘‘Fruit flies are probably the ones we look out for the most. We quite often get fruit from home gardeners, who are sending it in because they are worried they have found fruit fly.

‘‘Something like fruit fly, for example, if it got established in Tasmania it probably wouldn’t be a major pest. But if it did get established, even temporarily over here, we would have to inform our trading partners. That process would lose growers a lot of money because they would lose access to those export markets and they are quite often the higher quality markets.

‘‘The other common one is something that has been confiscated from a plane, or the boat – usually accidentally. Quite often it is something else though, like vinegar fly – small flies that hang around bowls of fruit in summer. Maggots also get into older fruit when it gets too ripe as well, so we get a lot of those calls as well.’’

Dating back to the late 1800s, DPIPWE’s New Town entomology collection is the key to the operation’s ongoing success.

More than 150,000 records, including pinnings, slides and tubes, fill multiple rooms at the facility.

Most pests can be identified and managed using the collection. But when difficulty ensues, Mr Davies’ online database collection is just as helpful.

Colorado potato beetle

DPIPWE’s New Town entomology collection boasts 150,000 records, including pinnings, slides and tubes.

Varroa mite is probably one of the worst things that could come into Australia ... the biggest impact will be on the industries that require pollination

‘‘Nearly everything in the collection is in the database, and if we find something new we’ll identify it as best we can, but sometimes you can’t get a really good ID.

 ‘‘Then we’ll try and match it to what’s in the database. If it’s in the database, it’s not likely to be a risk. If it’s not, then we’ll start looking through the national list and inquiring through the national plant database, which  includes most of the nation’s agricultural data.

‘‘We still use books, but there’s a lot of online stuff as well. We work through a key. It’s a dichotomous thing, it’ll give you two options and you work your way through until you get to a species.’’

One of Biosecurity’s biggest concerns is varroa mite,  a nasty parasite capable of driving several bee species into extinction.

Australia is the last country on Earth without a varroa mite infestation.

While the pest has not infiltrated Tasmania, Mr Davies is at the ready if it one day does.

‘‘Varroa mite is probably one of the worst things that could come into Australia.

‘‘It has a particular impact on the apiary industry, but the biggest impact will be on the industries that require pollination. It’s thought varroa would wipe out a lot of feral bee colonies, which currently provide a free service to horticulture. So if we lose production in those crops, we will probably be reduced quite a lot, across a lot of industries.’’

Checks and balances are  in place to protect Tasmania from varroa mite, including regular testing at Biosecurity hives on the coast.

‘‘We’ve put together a method for testing. We get samples from the Beekeepers Association and quarantine and we have central hives in Hobart and Bell Bay, which are our two highest-risk ports for international shipping.

‘‘The central hives are basically living hives, about six in each port, and every eight weeks a sticky trap will be put in with a miteacide to collect any potential for varroa mite that’s present. We examine the traps and look for varroa.

‘‘Varroa would change our bee industry and pollination industries. We’re hoping this program will continue for years.’’

Mr Davies does a good job, but he can’t do it all by himself. While airport and port quarantine checks are sometimes an annoyance to returning residents and visitors, they  are critical to the ongoing success of Biosecurity’s work.

‘‘The partnership we’ve set up between industry and Quarantine has worked really well and we’re hoping it’ll continue,’’ Mr Davies said.

The entomologist has warned residents to continue to do their part to protect state borders.

‘‘Any fruit or plants will be taken, and fish products are another big one too.

‘‘Be aware of what you can and can’t do. Quarantine have a presence at most of our entry points.

 ‘‘They can’t do all of it, but the message is clear and it’s just taking notice of it.’’