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https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/559018/portuguese-millipedes-infestation-growing-in-wellington-entomologist-says
New Zealand environment
Portuguese millipedes infestation growing in Wellington, entomologist says
Apr.24/25
…An entomologist says the spread of Portuguese millipedes across Wellington – and beyond – is almost certain after residents on the south coast sounded the alarm about infestations of the invasive species.
Biosecurity New Zealand said the invertebrate had been identified on the south coast and in Lower Hutt for about 20 years, but not much was known about it.
A local councillor is now calling for an urgent meeting with local authorities to discuss how to tackle the problem…
Chris Picking, who has lived on Wellington’s south coast for 15 years, told Morning Report he first noticed the millipedes a couple of years ago, but since then the population has exploded.
“There’s hundreds or maybe thousands I have to clean up around the house every day.”…
“We’ve had them in the lounge, in the bed, we’ve had them crawling on the dog, hanging from the walls and the ceiling. “I’ve had one on me in the bed (and) I’ve woken up and it’s been on my face. Anywhere you can think, I’ve seen them.”
For a few weeks a year when the population spiked, Picking said keeping the infestation at bay was a daily mission.
“The only way to get rid of them is to put poison down and squash them… and when you squash them, they’re pretty nasty,” he said. “They exude this toxic smelly stuff.”..
Professor of entomology at Victoria University Phil Lester said it was “almost certain” the millipedes would move beyond the current affected suburbs….
However, he said controlling the population would be difficult, and it likely wouldn’t meet the threshold for pest management until more people were affected.
In Australia – where millipedes were blamed for a train crash in 2013 – a viral nematode helps control the population, Lester said.
He said a biological control agent was probably one of few options for New Zealand, but said the method came with risks to native species…
(Biosecurity uninterested in helping affected people with this unpleasantness and extra cost, work and surveillance of the problem, and concentrates on possible ecological impact and emergency.)
Biosecurity New Zealand’s acting assistant commissioner of compliance and response Chelsea Bridgman said the millipede had been identified in Seaview, Gracefield, Wainuiomata and Owhiro Bay.
“We know very little about the ecological impact of Portuguese millipedes on New Zealand’s native flora and fauna, as the scientific literature is unclear. The millipede mainly feeds on decomposing organic matter,” Bridgman said.
She advised homeowners to remove green waste from gardens and create physical or chemical barriers around doors and windows.
On it’s website, Greater Wellington Regional Council stated that while the millipede was a nuisance, it was not a risk to human health and was not known to have any negative effects on the environment…
(I wonder about letting some loose in the Wellington Council and Biosecurity offices – just so they can see how mild a pest they are all in all?)
Sounds just like neoliberalism. How many warnings are needed to wake us to this complex metaphysical pest?
Notice the millipedes have been around for 20 years but not much known about it. The method sounds like politicians’ understanding that it’s better not to know and then can’t be questioned, so nobody is going to bite the bullet or the millipede are they. Yes Minister has something about this with Sir Humphrey and naive MP Jim Packer – before he became PM. You can learn a lot from the two Minister series, as they were written by people who spent much time in the political setting.
Could this be the next PM from Air NZ after Luxon’s demise? He seems to have at least one foot in reality unlike others near sky pilots.
Thomson said New Zealand had a complicated geography and was the size of Japan with a population of Sydney.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/559019/air-nz-blames-cost-of-inflation-for-rise-in-airline-s-airfares
It’s time politicians and financial dreamers in the middle and upper classes stopped thinking they were in a trainee polity to be like the USA with its vast wealth and huge financial deficit.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/558957/the-billions-spent-on-nz-s-accommodation-supplement-is-failing-to-make-rent-affordable-so-what-will
Ooh er. Now what will be the next bright idea?
Amazing ecological story.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/558814/hopefully-we-can-fish-them-to-extinction-pest-eradication-at-auckland-lake
A shining example for Kiwis. Shy little people hiding our lights under barrels sort of thing.
Just like this orchid. Perhaps we’ll call ourselves Cooperites, though I think that has been done before.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ourchangingworld/558937/our-changing-world-helping-new-zealand-s-understated-orchids
Cooper’s orchid – New Zealand’s rarest and most elusive native orchid species – spends years growing underground, before emerging as a leafless stick with brown flowers.
This subterranean lifestyle, plus a fussy relationship with fungi, makes conserving these orchids particularly challenging.
Well we are a pretty challenging species, and live in a challenging environment. Sort of similar. I did a personal rough sort of survey at the supermarket today and out of probably hundred shoppers I only saw five and a child not wearing black, brown or grey. We are so muted that we are almost like the Larsson cartoon woman who dresses to blend in with the walls. Find people who are alive, thinking, pleasant and honest with some humour, and get to know them, adopt each other platonically and start a cluster. You may be saving the country, even the world.