Bamboo Borer - Powder Post Beetle - Ghoon Borer

Dinoderus minutus

 

Recently Biosecurity New Zealand contacted one of our members and the NZBS regarding the presence of Powder Post Bettle in Kerikeri. It was concluded that a naturalised (wild) population exists in an Bambusa oldhami shelterbelt. This species has been observed in New Zealand in the past. The geographical range of the borer may be limited to North of Auckland due to low winter temperatures.

The borer consumes harvested dry bamboo and not live bamboo. It is likely that the borer prefers softer clumping varieties over running type bamboo. The adult borer are 09 to 1.5mm wide and enter bamboo though a hole they drill.

The larvae develope inside the bamboo creating frass and thereby weaking the bamboo.

The Invasive Species Compendium has a good datasheet for detailed information of this species https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/19035

It is of interest to the Bamboo Society and maybe others to know more of the borer's distribution in New Zealand. Please contact us if you find evidence of the borer in cut bamboo originating in New Zealand.