A new weapon being developed for New Zealand's fight against exotic pest insects could save the taxpayer millions of dollars each year.

Bio-Protection Research Centre PhD student Peter Holder is heading the world-leading project that aims to provide Biosecurity New Zealand with a means of determining the geographic origin of exotic insects intercepted in New Zealand.

"If we could determine that an exotic moth, for example, hadn't been born in New Zealand but had just flown off a ship, then we could mount a surveillance campaign rather than a massive eradication campaign. The difference between the two can be millions of dollars," Peter says.

Peter is investigating whether the geographic origin of exotic insects can be determined through isotope and trace element analysis. Isotopes are variations of a chemical element. Peter is investigating how the isotope ratio and trace element signal of an insect varies, depending on where it was born.

Peter's first step has been to find a way of measuring the minute stable isotope and trace element signatures of insects. These techniques are now being applied to his field collection of Helicoverpa armigera - commonly known as corn ear worm, or tomato fruit worm.

"I've collected insects from both New Zealand and Australia so I can compare the stable isotope signatures of the two."

The 3.5 year project has also attracted a significant funding contribution from a Ministry of Research, Science & Technology Cross-Departmental Research Fund and potentially has major implications for pest management both within New Zealand and internationally, Peter says.

Rainfall stable isotope data gathered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Department of Conservation and the New Zealand Police is being used to provide baseline data for this research.

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