Historical information
In 1949 the Commonwealth Forestry and Timber Bureau proposed a national planting program to make Australia more self-reliant in timber products after the shortages experienced during the war.
The threat of introduced sirex woodwasp from Europe in the early 1950s and its eventual discovery on the Australian mainland in 1961 brought the softwood plantation program into question.
However, quarantine and control measures using tree destruction and a nematode parasite was put in place.
Significance
Sirex noctilio was a serious threat to softwood plantations in Australia
Physical description
Sirex wood wasps encased in resin
