The giant willow aphid blew across from Australia and moved into the Waikato a couple of years ago putting pressure on us to get rid of the willows in the gully. The Aphis produce a dew that lands on the understorey plants creating a black sooty mould. This damages the understorey plants by reducing their ability to photosynthesise. It was always our intention to remove the willows but the aphids cause it to be moved up our “do list”. One of our volunteers purchased a good grunty drill for the job and has poisoned hundreds in the northern area of the gully. The last few that were missed are being poisoned at the moment to finish the job off.
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