If confirmed, it could be a major threat to New Zealand $3.3 billion fruit and vegetable export industry.
There has been no detection of any species of fruit fly in New Zealand since the discovery of a Mediterranean fruit fly back in 1996.
Andrew Coleman of the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) said a single male Queensland fruit fly was found in a surveillance trap in Mt Roskill on Tuesday and was identified yesterday.
The ministry was putting a "controlled area" around the suburb and would ban the movement of produce out of the area.
Coleman said the most likely way a fruit fly could arrive in the country was in fresh fruit.
Primary Industries Minister David Carter said the Government was notifying relevant trading partners and working to establish the extent of a potential biosecurity breach.
"The response is firstly to minimise any adverse trade reaction and that is why the ministry for primary industries is starting now to notify our relevant trading partners," Carter said.
"We need to quickly find out whether this trapping (involves) a single insect or whether a breeding population has been established in which case an eradication response will be commenced immediately."
Consultation and transparent communication with relevant stake holders had already begun.
Horticulture New Zealand chief executive Peter Silcock said the industry, which is in the middle of its export season, was waiting with "bated breath" for further developments.
"There's only one fly, it's a male, and we're hoping that's all there is," he said.
"It's not an incursion. An incursion would be if the fly was established, and it is far from that.
"We're hoping our trading partners understand this. We hope they will take the reasonable approach to this that New Zealand would take if the same thing was happening to them."
He said growers were ringing the head office in Wellington wanting to know more. He was saying to them that the organisation was happy with the ministry's response and was being kept informed.
A Zespri spokesman said the kiwifruit marketer had just learnt of the fly find and was working with the ministry to understand more fully what was happening. "We're putting our heads down to understand what it means," he said.
The ministry has asked people in the Avondale and Mt Roskill areas to allow inspectors to check trees on their properties. Coleman said field teams would be setting traps to determine if other fruit flies were in the area.
"It is vital that we ascertain if the insect is a solitary find or if there is a wider population in Auckland.
"This insect is an unwanted and notifiable organism that could have serious consequences for New Zealand's horticultural industry. It can damage a wide range of fruit and vegetables."
"Since 2006 the Ministry has intercepted species of fruit fly 53 times at the border, preventing a population from establishing here," Coleman said.
"Additionally, the Queensland fruit fly has been detected twice before in New Zealand - in Northland in 1995 and in Auckland in 1996. In both cases increased surveillance found no further sign of Queensland fruit fly and there were no breeding populations present."
Andrew Watson, general manager of NZ Hothouse, which has 20 hectares of tomatoes, capsicums and cucumbers under glass at Pukekohe, said the news was "alarming".
"We are very concerned, very threatened by this. This is a direct consequence of poor border control - people bringing large quantities of fruit on planes from Queensland."
MPI has strict import requirements in place to minimise this risk. All plant material and fruit that can host the Queensland fruit fly can only be imported to New Zealand under the requirements of the relevant Import Health Standard.
These standards define the approved pre-export treatment systems and certification requirements to manage the risk of fruit fly and other pests from entering and establishing in New Zealand.
Air and sea passengers are prohibited from bringing fresh fruit and vegetables into the country.
- Stuff.co.nz
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