What's different at the Mount
Sand and honey-brown ants
Bay of Plenty Regional Council says Argentine ants favour sandy coastal and volcanic soils. They're in its advisory programme, so control on your property is up to you as landowner or occupier, and the council may give advice.
Volunteers on Mauao
A 2021 Tauranga City Council paper says Predator Free Bay of Plenty volunteers trap on significant reserves including Mauao and the Matua Salt Marsh. The council's parks team manages pest animals in reserves, and the volunteers' backyard work covers private homes.
A port that keeps watch
In March 2003 MAF reported three crazy ant nests at the Mount Maunganui wharf, found through its national invasive ant surveillance programme and treated with insecticide. That's history, not a sign they're here now, but it's why the port is watched closely.
Still looking for newcomers
Kiwifruit Vine Health reported in 2021 that a Scion trial tested eight types of insect trap at the Port of Tauranga, to spot invasive species before they establish. It identified 211 species, and none were new to New Zealand.
Apartments, units and body corporates
A lot of the Mount is apartments and units, and ants or cockroaches rarely stop at one front door. If you're in a shared building, raise it with the body corporate or your property manager early, so the whole building is looked at rather than one unit at a time.
Tenants have their own rules. Tenancy Services says landlords need the property free of pests at the start of a tenancy, and tenants need to keep it in a condition that doesn't encourage them. If neither caused it, responsibility is unclear and they often split the cost.
Found an insect you can't place?
Keep your distance
Don't disturb it or try to catch it, especially if it's a large wasp or hornet.
Take a photo
A clear photo from a safe distance, with something for scale, helps whoever looks at it.
Report it
Biosecurity New Zealand has a Pest and Disease hotline, and it's the same hotline MPI points to for suspected termites.
The everyday jobs
Most calls at the Mount will be ordinary ones. Rats near the reserves and the harbour edge, ants coming in from sandy gardens, and paper wasps under eaves. The regional council says paper wasps are less aggressive than German and common wasps, but a nest beside a doorway is still worth a pest business's time.
What we'd do about pests in Mount Maunganui
In an apartment, we'd talk to the body corporate before booking anything, because a treatment in one unit rarely settles a building. In a house, we'd follow the ant trail outside first. Either way, tap what you've seen and mention it if you're near Mauao or the harbour.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
