Hon Jim Chown asks the Minister for Agriculture and Food if the Department supports releasing Spalangia wasps in Gingin to control stable flies. The Minister responds that the Department does not support the release due to lack of efficacy in past trials.

AnsweredQoN 15Legislative Council
Asked
11 February 2020
Portfolio
Agriculture and Food

QuestionView source ↗

STABLE FLY — SPALANGIA WASP — RELEASE
15. Hon JIM CHOWN to the Minister for Agriculture and Food:
Does the Department of Primary
Industries and Regional Development support the release of Spalangia wasp in the Gingin area to mitigate the plague of stable flies that cause
enormous stress to all living creatures at this time of the year; and, if not,
why not?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the member for the
question.
We certainly understand the horror
that is stable flies but we do not intend to support the release of the wasp.
The reason for this is that the trials that took place in 2015 and 2016 in a cattle
feedlot demonstrated zero efficacy for stable fly parasitism, and no scientific
literature supports this course of action.

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