Serpentine Leafminer Management Plan now available

Greenlife Industry Australia’s National Biosecurity and Sustainable Plant Production project team has produced a Serpentine Leafminer Management Plan to help nursery growers in production and retail environments deal with the management of this notifiable pest.

Serpentine leafminer (Liriomyza huidobrensis) can cause damage to a wide range of edible and ornamental crops impacting production nurseries growing seedlings and potted colour for supply into food production and amenity horticulture markets.

In October 2020, serpentine leafminer was detected in Australia at a vegetable farm in Western Sydney, New South Wales (NSW). By December 2020, a total of 37 properties in NSW and farms in southeast Queensland were confirmed to be infested. Host crops most affected were beans, lettuce, spinach, chillies, and cucurbits. However, it is important to note that a at least thirty-eight host plant species in Australia have returned positive results including petunias and snapdragons which are common ornamentals in production horticulture.