Pest control hub (1) - Northland Regional Council

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We now have a new-look Pest Control Hub that is just one click away.

Your go-to-guide for advice on pest, animal and weed control in Northland.

Pest Control Hub

African club moss

African club moss

African club moss is a creeping ground cover fern that spreads quickly, preventing seedling regeneration.

African feather grass

African feather grass

African feather grass is a perennial grass that forms large clumps up to two metres tall. From November to April, it produces long, thin flower heads

Agapanthus

Agapanthus grows as clumps of arching, strap-like green leaves with a watery sap. It produces purplish-blue or white flowers on top of tall stalks.

Akebia

Akebia currently has a limited distribution in Northland. It is a twining vine or ground cover, with leaves of five oval shaped leaflets.

Alligator weed

Alligator weed is a perennial emergent aquatic plant that can also grow in terrestrial areas.

Aquarium Caulerpa

Aquarium Caulerpa

Bright green seaweed with horizontal runners that reach up to nine meters.

Argentine ant

Argentine ant: worker ants are only 2–3 mm long and are a uniform honey-brown colour.

Aristea

An evergreen perennial up to 45cm high. Its has clusters of 5-7 deep blue flowers in December that only come out in bright sunlight. They have stiff,...

Asian clam

Asian clam occurs in estuaries and brackish waters, particularly in mud, sand, peat and clay surfaces.

Asian date mussel

Asian date mussel

The Asian date mussel is generally 10-25mm in length but can grow to 30mm.  It has a smooth olive-green to greenish-brown shell, with zig-zag...

Asian paddle crab

Asian paddle crab

Asian paddle crabs are relatively large swimming crabs with the potential to compete with native crabs for space and food.

Asian paper wasp

Asian paper wasp

Paper wasps are distinguished by their body shape, which is slender and 13-25mm long. They have reddish-brown to black bodies with yellow rings and...

Asiatic knotweed

Asiatic knotweed

Asiatic knotweed is a thicket-forming herb that can grow to 2m tall. It has zig-zagging stems and red-purple shoots which appear early in spring. As...

Australian droplet tunicate

Australian droplet tunicate

Eudistoma elongatum, also known as the Australian droplet tunicate, is a type of sea squirt that forms large colonies.

Australian redback spider

Australian redback spider

The redback spider Latrodectus hasselti is native to Australia. It is easily recognisable by its black body (occasionally brownish) with prominent red...

Balloon vine

Balloon vine is a long-lived perennial climbing vine reaching up to 10m high. It has light green, coarsely toothed or lobed leaves.

Bamboo

Bamboo is the common name of various species of tubular grass introduced to New Zealand from East Asia. They are tall and erect...

Banana passionfruit

Banana passionfruit

Vigorous, evergreen, high-climbing vines grows up to 10 metres high.

Bat-wing passion flower

Bat-wing passion flower

Bat-wing passion flower is an invasive, shade-tolerant vine. It has distinctive bat-wing shaped leaves that have a pale green stripe along the midrib.

Bathurst bur

Bathurst bur is a spiny plant that grows up to 1m tall.

Bearded dragon

Eastern bearded dragons are grey-brown reptiles native to Australia, which can grow to 55cm long. The throat is covered with distinctive spiny scales...

Big headed ant

Big-headed ants are a relatively small ant that are grey-yellow to dark brown in colour and covered in many sparse, long hairs.

Black-eyed susan

Black-eyed susan

Climbing vine with twining stems which typically grows to 1-3m tall (depending on what it is growing on usually a host tree or fence line)....

Blackberry

Blackberry is a scrambling, very thorny, semi-erect shrub that is usually deciduous, with large root crowns and long suckers. Stems are usually...

Blotched blue tongued skink

Blotched blue tongued skink

Blotched blue-tongue skinks are mostly black with varying amounts of light brown or grey blotches or bands.  These lighter markings may be pale...

Blue morning glory

Blue morning glory

High climbing vine with tough, hairy, twining, running stems with tough fibrous roots without rhizomes.

Blue spur flower

Blue spur flower

An erect shrub that grows up to 3m tall. Both stems and leaves are covered in short fine hairs. Leaves are oval shaped and have irregular serrations...

Boneseed

Bushy, semi-woody, much branched shrub or small tree to 2-3 m with ribbed and woolly young stems that become smooth as they mature.

Brazilian pepper tree

Brazilian pepper tree

Brazilian pepper tree is a small, evergreen bushy tree 3-7m tall.

Broom

Broom is an upright, many-branched, almost leafless woody shrub, up to 3m tall.

Brown bullhead catfish

Brown bullhead catfish

Brown bullhead catfish are a dark brown to olive green colour with paler sides and bellies.

Brown marmorated stink bug

Brown marmorated stink bug

The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is an agricultural, horticultural, and social pest.

Brush wattle

Brush wattle is a short-lived tree, usually 5-10m tall. It has densely hairy twigs and bronze, hairy young shoots.

Buddleia

Buddleia is a woody and deciduous ornamental shrub that grows up to 3m tall.

Camphor laurel

Evergreen tree up to 30m high, with a dense and spreading canopy.  Leaves are glossy green, alternate, 5-10cm long and 2.5-5cm wide.  Small,...

Canada geese

In Northland, Canada Geese are an emerging threat, and sightings are encouraged to be reported to understand population growth in our region.

Cape honey flower

Cape honey flower

Cape honey flower is a clump-forming shrub, with stout, rough, hollow stems and a suckering root system.

Cape ivy

Cape ivy is a hairless, scrambling, perennial plant which often forms a dense, tangled shrub growing 2-3m tall.

Cape tulip

Cape tulip is a perennial herb in the iris family. It produces shoots in winter, and dies back to an underground corm in early summer.

Carpet sea squirt

Carpet sea squirt

Carpet sea squirts grow attached to hard surfaces. The carpet sea squirt is leathery or spongey and light mustard in colour. It can look like a...

Cathedral bells

Cathedral bells

Cathedral bells is a fast-growing evergreen climbing vine and can grow to 6m tall.

Cats - feral and stray

Cats - feral and stray

Feral and stray cats are usually short-haired and slightly built, with a large head and sharp features.

Cats Claw Creeper

Cats Claw Creeper

Invasive creeper with bright yellow trumpet flowers and long seed pods. Stems have distinctive claw-like tendrils.

Century plant

Century plant is a very large, distinctive-looking succulent plant with the bases of the leaves at ground level.

Chilean rhubarb

Chilean rhubarb

Chilean rhubarb is a giant, rhubarb-like herb with huge prickly leaves that can reach up to 2.5m tall. In winter, it dies back to large creeping stems...

Chinese knotweed

Chinese knotweed

Chinese knotweed can grow as a scrambling vine or as a shrub. It can grow to varying heights, depending on what it is climbing over. If it as growing...

Chinese mitten crab

Chinese mitten crab

Chinese mitten crabs are usually light-brown to olive green shell, which reaches up to 10 cm across.

Chinese privet

Chinese privet is a shrub or small tree that grows to 5+m tall.  It is evergreen or semi-deciduous with distinctive warty lumps on stems and...

Climbing asparagus

Climbing asparagus

Slender scrambling or climbing perennial with tuberous roots, and long green, thin, wiry stems (2-4 m long) that are much branched at the top.

Climbing dock

Scrambling or low-climbing perennial with brown kumara or beetroot-like tubers (5-20 cm long) with yellow flesh as well as extensive long weak rhizome

Climbing spindle berry

Climbing spindle berry

Climbing spindleberry is a deciduous climber that grows up to 15m high.

Clubbed tunicate

Clubbed tunicate

Clubbed tunicates have a long, club-shaped body on a short, tough stalk. Its surface is tough, leathery, rumpled, and knobbly, ranging in colour from...

Coastal banksia

Coastal banksia

Coastal banksia is a large, long-lived shrub or small tree that grows up to about 15m high.

Common blue tongued skink

Common blue tongued skink

Common blue-tongue skinks are grey-pale brown reptiles native to Australia, which can grow to 60cm long.  They have dark bands around the body...

Common wasp

Common wasps, Vespula vulgaris, are very similar in appearance to German wasps.

Coral tree

A large, spreading, deciduous tree up to 12-18m tall.  The trunk and branches have light coloured bark and stout prickles 5-10mm long. ...

Cotoneaster

Cotoneasters are long lived, evergreen shrubs up to approximately 3m tall.

Darwin's ant

Darwin's ant worker ants are about 2 mm long. They have a dark-brown head but the rest of the body and the legs are light brown.

Eastern water dragon

Eastern water dragon

Eastern water dragons are a grey to brownish-grey colour above with patterns of black stripes along the ridge of the back as well as down the tail....

Eel grass

Eel grass is a submerged, bottom-rooted freshwater plant. It produces long, thick, strap-like leaves that are up to 3m long and 0.5-5cm wide.

Egeria

Bottom-rooted submerged perennial aquatic herb. Stems can be more than 3m in length.

Elaeagnus

Elaeagnus is a dense, evergreen shrub that can scramble over supporting vegetation or structures to a height of 20m.

Elephant's ear

Elephant's ear is a robust perennial that is native to the rain forests of Queensland, Australia.  It has thick stems up to 1.2m long and large,...

English ivy

English ivy is an evergreen climber that can spread along the ground or climb trees, walls and other structures.

European shore crab

European shore crab

Adult specimen shells can reach widths of up to 8 cm, with five spines or spikes on each side of shell.

Evergreen buckthorn

Evergreen buckthorn

Evergreen buckthorn is a shrub or tree that can grow to 5m tall, but in exposed sites it may become a stunted shrub less than 1m tall.

Exotic Caulerpa

Exotic Caulerpa

If you have seen or suspect the presence of exotic caulerpa you must report the sighting to Biosecurity New Zealand (MPI): Freephone 0800 80 99 66

Fall armyworm

The fall armyworm moth is a plant pest that can feed on over 350 plant species

Fennel

Fennel is a flowering plant species of the carrot family with a strong aniseed smell. It is a hardy, prernnial herb that grows up to 2 meters tall....

Feral deer

Deer are selective browsers and target particular forest species over others. This can result in significant changes to forest composition.

Feral goat

Feral goats vary in size and colour, and have a 'blocky' appearance, with stout strong legs designed for climbing.

Feral pig

Feral pigs are smaller and more muscular than domestic pigs.  They are usually black but they can be ginger, sandy brown, white, grey or...

Ferny azolla

Ferny azolla is a tiny free floating aquatic fern

Ferret

Ferrets are the largest of the three Mustelidae species present in New Zealand and are about 48-56cm long, including the tail.

Field horsetail

Field horsetail

Field horsetail is an erect, colony-forming, primitive fern-ally that grows up to 80cm high and dies back in winter.  The plants produce two...

Firethorn

Berries are produced in large numbers with up to 1000 seeds per square meter of soil surface recorded. Firethorn reproduces entirely from seed.

Freshwater gold clam

Freshwater gold clam

Freshwater gold clam was recently found in May 2023 in the Waikato River at Bob’s Landing near Lake Karāpiro

Fringed water lily

Fringed water lily

Fringed water lily is very similar to marshwort. The main difference is its leaves, which are frequently purple underneath and have scalloped margins.

Furcraea

Grown as an ornamental plant, Furcraea species are capable of forming localised mono-cultures, excluding including native ground cover species.

Gambusia (mosquito fish)

Gambusia (mosquito fish)

Gambusia are commonly called Mosquito fish due to the mistaken belief that they can help control Mosquito populations

German ivy

German Ivy is a scrambling or climbing vine that can reach heights of 5m.

German wasp

The German Wasp, Vespula germanica, ranges in length of 12 – 17 mm long with a blackish brown abdomen and bright yellow stripes

Giant hogweed

Giant hogweed is a perennial herb that can grow up to 6m tall and has large serrated leaves up to 50cm long.

Giant knotweed

Giant knotweed is a large, thicket-forming herb that can grow up to 4m tall. It has large (up to 30cm long), heart-shaped leaves that are smooth on...

Giant reed

Giant reed is a bamboo-like grass that can grow to 8m tall. It has a very strong, dense root structure that spreads outwards and...

Giant Yucca

Yucca and Spanish dagger, cause issues seeding or growing from garden dumping.

Gorse

Gorse is a deep-rooted, woody perennial shrub that can grow to 4m tall. It has densely spined branches and is woody when mature. Gorse has...

Gravel groundsel

Gravel groundsel

Gravel groundsel is a bushy plant that grows up to 50cm tall with stems that curve upwards, topped by individual bright yellow flowers.

Greater bindweed

Greater bindweed

Great bindweed is a scrambling, twining vine. From October to May it produces white, trumpet-like flowers that are up to 9cm in diameter.

Green cestrum

Green cestrum is a melly shrub to 1-3 m, with erect stems that become woody as it matures.

Green goddess arum

Green goddess arum

Green goddes arum is a clump-forming, evergreen perennial (to 1.5 m) growing from tubers, with large glossy, leathery, dark-green, arrow-shaped leaves

Guava moth

Guava moth is a small, black and white speckled, inconspicuous moth with a 15mm wingspan.

Gypsywort

Gypsywort is an emergent perennial herb up to approximately 1m tall. It lacks the characteristic minty smell of similar species.

Hakea

Willow-leaved hakea is a fast-growing, upright shrub that can grow up to 5m tall. The flat and elliptical leaves are widest in the middle and can...

Hare

Hares are easily distinguished from rabbits. They are much larger, with long, black-tipped ears and large muscular hindquarters.

Himalayan honeysuckle

Himalayan honeysuckle

Himalayan honeysuckle is a shrub that grows up to 2m tall (it is not a vine, like Japanese honeysuckle).

Holly-leaved senecio

Holly-leaved senecio

Holly-leaved senecio is an erect perennial herb that grows up to 1.5m high. It has oval leaves, which are coarsely toothed, and holly-like. The...

Hornwort

Hornwort can grow from a single cell! this makes it particually invasive as it can be easily tansfered between water bodies.

Houttuynia

Houttuynia grows as a dense groundcover that spreads rapidly. The leaves are heart-shaped and up to 7cm long. They are usually...

Hydrilla

Submerged, bottom-rooting perennial growing to 9m, with slender, brittle and branched stems (1 mm diameter). Translucent, dark green leaves (6-12 x 2...

Indian ring-necked parakeet

Indian ring-necked parakeet

Indian ring-neck parrots are 38-42cm, typically with a green body.  Colour variations are available due to selective breeding/mutation. ...

Japanese honeysuckle

Japanese honeysuckle

Vigorous evergreen (semi-evergreen in cold districts) climber with long, tough, wiry stems that twine clockwise, are purplish and hairy when young,...

Japanese mantis shrimp

Japanese mantis shrimp

Have you seen this Shrimp outside Kaipara Harbour? Contact Northland Regional Council if you suspect you have - 0800 002 004

Jasmine

Jasmine is an evergreen, scrambling climber that forms large, dense mats over trees and other structures. Leaves are opposite, usually with seven...

Kangaroo acacia

Kangaroo acacia

Kangaroo acacia is a perennial shrub that grows up to approximately 3m tall with leaves reduced to flattened stalks and spines up to 10mm...

Kauri dieback

Phytophthora agathidicida PA is a deadly, fungus-like disease that can kill kauri trees of any age.  Spores in the soil infect kauri roots and...

Kiwifruit PSA

The highly virulent bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa) causes bacterial canker on kiwifruit vines. This bacteria is found in several...

Koi carp

Koi carp are an ornamental strain of common carp. Their colour is variable, often a blotchy pattern, which can include black, red, orange, gold...

Lagarosiphon (Oxygen Weed)

Lagarosiphon (Oxygen Weed)

Oxygen weed forms dense underwater mats that inhibit native fresh water plant growth

Lantana

Lantana is a prickly, multi-stemmed, evergreen shrub that grows to 2-4m tall.  It has a strong odour of blackcurrant.  The small flowers...

Lesser knotweed

Lesser knotweed

Lesser knotweed is a perennial herb that can grow to 1m tall. The leaves are 8-15cm long and 3-5cm wide and are hairy on both sides. The tips of the...

Lightbulb ascidian

Lightbulb ascidian

Clavelina sea squirts can be found in dense clusters on sea walls, rocks, fixed underwater structures and vessel hulls.

Lily of the valley vine

Lily of the valley vine

Lily of the valley vine is a scrambling, fast-growing perennial herb which reproduces from roots and by seed.  It usually produces about 100...

Madagascar ragwort

Madagascar ragwort

Madagascar ragwort looks superficially similar to other yellow flowering weeds, but it is a very serious threat. It looks essentially identical to...

Magpie

This familiar large songbird is similar in size to a crow or a New Zealand pigeon. The white-backed form tyrannica is the largest of the sub-species....

Manchurian wild rice

Manchurian wild rice

Manchurian wild rice is a giant grass that grows up to 4m high.  It has harsh, dull green leaves that are 1-3 cm wide and grow in fans.  The...

Marron

Marron (Cherax tenuimanus) is a large fresh water crayfish native to Western Australia. It poses a significant threat to New Zealand’s...

Marshwort

Marshwort is a bottom-rooted perennial water lily-like plant. It has long-branched running stems, several metres long.

Mediterranean fanworm

Mediterranean fanworm

Mediterranean fanworm is a large, tube-dwelling worm. It is the largest fanworm in New Zealand with its body measuring up to 20mm wide and 800mm long.

Mexican devil

Erect, many-stemmed herb subshrub to 1-2 m with a perennial fibrous rootstock. Stems often die back in winter, are densely covered in stalked sticky...

Mexican feather grass

Mexican feather grass

Mexican feather grass is a densely tufted, perennial tussock grass that grows up to 70cm tall. It flowers between October and December, with erect...

Mickey mouse plant

Mickey mouse plant

Have you seen this plant? Find it, report it and we'll remove it - free of charge.

Mignonette vine

Mignonette vine

Perennial, climbing, hairless, woody vine with fleshy rhizomes and slender, usually reddish stems with small irregular 'warty' aerial tubers. Fleshy...

Mile-a-minute

Mile-a-minute is an evergreen fast-growing vine which will quickly smother native vegetation.

Monkey apple

Monkey apple (also refereed to as Acmena smithii) is a tree (<6-15 m tall) with smooth bark and oval, leathery leaves (4-12 x 2-5 cm)...

Monkey musk

Monkey musk is a soft herb that grows up to 60cm tall, forming bright-green leafy clumps or large masses. It has thick stems that are occasionally...

Moth plant

Moth plant is a fast-growing vine that can reach 10m tall.  The twining stems release a milky sap when they're broken.  The leaves are...

Myna

The myna is a tropical bird first introduced into New Zealand in the 1870s.  Mynas did not appear north of the Waikato until the 1950s. ...

Myrtle rust

Myrtle rust attacks young, soft, actively growing leaves, shoot tips and young stems. Initial symptoms are powdery, bright yellow or orange-yellow...

Nardoo

Nardoo looks like a member of the clover family, but is actually a freshwater fern.  It has flat leaves that resemble a large four-leaf...

Nassella tussock

Nassella tussock

Nassella tussock is a perennial tussock-forming grass with fine-bladed, wiry leaves. It grows up to one metre high and one metre across. The extremely...

Nodding thistle

Nodding thistle

Nodding thistle is a biennial plant that grows from over-wintering rosettes and has a long, fleshy taproot.  The flowering stems grow up to 1.5m...

Noogoora bur

Noogoora bur is a fast-growing summer annual that can reach heights of 2m - 2.5m. Its is named for the clusters of distinctive, egg-shaped burs that...

Northern Pacific seastar

Northern Pacific seastar

The Northern Pacific seastar has five arms, which have pointed, and often up-turned tips. The arms join onto a central disc and are covered by clumps...

Nutgrass

Nutgrass Nutgrass is a colony-forming perennial with a grass-like appearance that grows approximately 30cm in height.

Old man’s beard

Old man’s beard

Old man’s beard is a deciduous climbing vine that grows up to 20m tall.  It has woody stems with six prominent ribs and pale bark that rubs...

Orange cestrum

Smelly shrub (up to 2m) with erect, hairless stems that become woody. Leaves (4-15 x 2-7 cm) are hairless and smell strongly when bruised. Orange,...

Orfe

In Europe, wild orfe are usually greyish brown with silver bellies. However, in New Zealand we have an ornamental variety of orfe known as the golden...

Oxylobium

Oxylobium is a tall evergreen shrub (3-8m high) with densely hairy angular stems.  Leaves are oval- shaped, narrow and 30-80mm long, silky when...

Pampas grass

Pampas is a perennial, tussock-like grass.  There are two species present in Northland (Cortaderia jubata and Cortaderia selloana).  Both...

Paperbark poplar

Paperbark poplar

Paperbark poplar is an evergreen tree up to approximately 20-30m tall.  The bark is shed in pale, papery layers.  Leaves are aromatic,...

Parrots feather

Parrots feather

Parrot's feather is a submerged, bottom-rooted perennial aquatic herb.  The top 10cm of foliage can be emergent, standing above the water....

Perch

Perch are olive green-grey, with six or more dark vertical bands across their sides.  The pelvic and anal fins and lower half of the tail are...

Periwinkle

Periwinkle is a scrambling groundcover plant that resembles a vine.  The trailing stems can grow more than 2m long and take root where they come...

Phoenix palm

The phoenix palm is a stocky palm, with a trunk up to 18m tall and 1.2m in diameter.  The trunk is covered with leaf scars, giving it a...

Phragmites

Phragmites is a perennial grass that grows up to 3m tall on water margins. It has bamboo-like stems which carry long, wide, flat leaves that taper to...

Plague skink

Rainbow skinks are 3-4cm long from the tip of the nose to hind legs, excluding the long thin tail.  They are brown or grey-brown with a dark...

Possum

Possums can be a vector in the spread of diseases that affect domestic animals and humans, such as tuberculosis.

Prickly moses

Prickly moses is a shrub-small tree that lives approximately 20-30 years.  Twigs are ribbed and are sparsely to densely hairy.  Leaves...

Pultenaea

A medium-sized shrub, growing between one and three metres high. Its leaves are cuneate (wedge-shaped) with a narrow base, 5-40 mm in...

Purple loosestrife

Purple loosestrife

Purple loosestrife is an erect, summer-green perennial herb that grows 1-2m tall.  The woody stems are square in cross-section.  It has...

Pyura sea squirt

Pyura sea squirt

Native to Australia, the Pyura sea squirt, generally inhabits the low to mid intertidal zone as well as shallow subtidal areas less than 12m...

Queen of the night

Queen of the night

Queen of the night can invade disturbed and open forest, forest margins, secondary forest, streamsides and shrublands. It prefers damp...

Rabbit

Rabbits can breed rapidly and recover quickly after being reduced by disease, control pressures and environmental changes.

Ragwort

Ragwort is a member of the daisy family.  It is an erect, annual to perennial herb and usually grows to 45-70cm tall, but can reach 1.6...

Rainbow lorikeet

Rainbow lorikeet

Rainbow lorikeets are long tailed, brightly coloured parrots that are about 30cm long. They have a bright red beak and eyes, a blue head and belly,...

Rat

Rats are widespread through out Northland. Norway and Ship rat have a significant impact on native flora and fauna and also human health.

Red cestrum

Strong-smelling shrub growing up to 2-4 m tall with erect stems that are densely covered with purplish hairs when young. As the plant...

Red-eared slider turtle

Red-eared slider turtle

Red Eared Sliders, are classified as one of the "Worlds worst invasive alien species", by the World Conservation Unions.

Reed sweet grass

Reed sweet grass

Erect clumping perennial grass, reaching almost 2m tall.  Leaves are up to 2cm wide.  Creeping rhizomes can form mats that are attached at...

Rhus tree

Rhus tree (or Japanese wax tree) is a small deciduous tree or large shrub that is highly toxic and allergy causing.

Rook

You must notify the Northland Regional Council if you think you have seen this pest.

Royal fern

Royal fern is a deciduous fern that has large fronds up to 3m long and 75cm wide. The fronds are feather-like, subdivided twice, yellow-green and...

Rudd

Rudd were illegally imported into New Zealand in 1967, and widely released into freshwater systems.  Rudd are darker on their backs than on their...

Salvinia

Salvinia is a free-floating aquatic fern that forms large, dense mats.  With its hairy leaves and floating habit it can be hard to recognise as a...

Sea spurge

Sea spurge is a long-lived herbaceous coastal plant native to Africa, temperate Asia, and many parts of Europe and is invasive in Australia. The plant...

Senegal tea

Senegal tea is a hardy, semi-aquatic, perennial herb. It grows in damp soils, usually rooted on the edge of waterways but can also survive...

Sexton’s bride

Sexton’s bride

Sexton's bride is a perennial shrub up to approximately 3m tall.  Flowers are borne in clusters of about 20 from July-December.  Petals...

Sharp rush

Sharp rush is a perennial spiny rush forming dense stiff clumps up to 1m tall.  Stems are cylindrical and sharp tipped, and rhizomes woody. ...

Smilax

Scrambling or twining perennial with dense clusters of white, fleshy, tuberous roots and twisted, thin, wiry, branched green stems to 3m.

Snake-neck turtle

Snake-neck turtle

Endemic to Queensland, snake-neck turtles are sold as pets here in New Zealand.  They are a semi-aquatic species, preferring slow moving water...

Spartina

Spartina is an estuarine grass that grows in clumps up 1.5 metres tall.

Stoat

Stoats have a chestnut-brown coat,, a light-coloured belly and a bushy, black-tipped tail

Sulphur crested cockatoo

Sulphur crested cockatoo

Sulphur-crested cockatoos are large, white birds that have prominent yellow crests on the tops of their heads.  The crest usually lies flat, but...

Sycamore

Sycamore is a large tree up to 20m tall, with a smooth trunk.  It is deciduous but leaf fall is moderately protracted.  Leaves are...

Sydney golden wattle

Sydney golden wattle

Sydney golden wattle is a shrub or small tree that grows up to about 10m tall. Its leaves are narrow (approximately 2cm wide and 13cm long) with...

Taiwan cherry

Taiwan Cherry is a deciduous, spreading tree usually 3-8m tall when mature.  Leaves are hairless, thin, usually 130x60mm with a long tapered...

Tench

Tench were first introduced to New Zealand in 1867 as a sports fish. They grow to a large size in New Zealand, and fish over 2kg in weight...

Tradescantia

This plant has fleshy, dark green, shiny leaves that are 3-6cm long, oval with pointed tips on hairless, creeping stems. It produces white flowers...

Tree privet

There are four species of privet in New Zealand: tree privet (Ligustrum lucidum), Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense), privet (Ligustrum...

Tropical armyworm

Tropical armyworm

Tropical armyworm caterpillar grow to 45 mm long.  The colour varies from pale green to dark green to brown as they develop. Mature larvae have...

Tropical grass webworm

Tropical grass webworm

Webworm caterpillars are most numerous and hungry late summer and autumn.  If you have what appear to be hard grazed patches in an otherwise lush...

Tuber ladder fern

Tuber ladder fern

Terrestrial or epiphytic fern which grows to 1m, with small, erect, scaly rhizomes which produce many long runners and round, 1-3 cm hairy potato-like...

Undaria seaweed

Undaria seaweed

Japanese kelp has a distinctive midrib up the middle of the blade plus the distinctive sporophyll (spores on underside of leaves).

Velvet groundsel

Velvet groundsel

Velvet groundsel is a large shrub or bush up to 2m tall.  It has round, lobed, hairy leaves that are up to 20cm across and feel soft and velvety...

Velvetleaf

Velvetleaf is a summer-growing annual plant that can grow up to 1.5m tall or more. It has large, heart-shaped leaves, which are soft and velvety

Wallaby

Wallabies are small marsupial animals that look like miniature kangaroos.

Water hyacinth

Water hyacinth is a free-floating aquatic plant that can grow in dense mats.  The leaves are glossy, green, leathery and up to 8cm across. ...

Water poppy

Water poppy looks like a water lily. It has thick, glossy, floating leaves attached to rubbery creeping stems and distinctive yellow flowers with...

Weasel

Weasels are the smallest and least common of the three mustelids in New Zealand.

White-tailed spider

White-tailed spider

These dark grey spiders are 12-17mm long and readily recognised by their elongated body form and a distinctive white patch on the end of the abdomen....

Wild ginger

Both species of wild ginger can successfully multiply. Due to its smothering nature, it will eventually replace all other species in its locality.

Wild kiwifruit

Kiwifruit is a vigorous vine that is cultivated for its fruit. The entire plant is hairy. The leaves are oval, about 14cm across and have finely...

Wilding conifers

Wilding conifers

Wilding conifers or wilding pines can grow into tall, cylindrical trees up to approximately 70m tall and 2m in diameter.  Their leaves are...

Woolly nightshade

Woolly nightshade

Woolly nightshade (also known as tobacco weed) is a shrub or small tree that can rapidly grow to 10m tall. It has large, grey and green leaves that...

Yellow flag iris

Yellow flag iris

Yellow flag iris is an aquatic plant that grows as leafy clumps up to 2m tall. The sword like leaves emerge in fans from a reddish purplish base. From...