This year as part of the Great Biosecurity Quest, we are asking people to keep an eye out for tomato potato psyllid (TPP) and other biosecurity pests. One way that you can play your part in protecting Victoria’s biosecurity is by joining our citizen science trapping program where you can place insect sticky traps in your garden and send them back to us for review.

What is TPP?

TPP is a small insect that feeds on solanaceous hosts such as tomato, potato, eggplant, chili and capsicum, and was detected in Victoria for the first time in November 2024 on the Bellarine Peninsula. This was the first detection in Australia outside Western Australia.  Agriculture Victoria is undertaking surveillance to determine if TPP is present in other areas.

What is involved if I join?

When you join, we will send you a trapping kit and you will need to follow the instructions provided to place it in your garden. After two weeks you will need to place your trap into the reply-paid envelope and send it back to Agriculture Victoria.  Our biosecurity experts will review your sticky trap to identify any invasive insect pests that may have collected on the trap. If our biosecurity experts do identify any suspect pests, they will be in touch and might ask to visit your property to collect additional insect specimens.

How can I join?

If you’d like to be involved, simply fill out this form and we will send you a trapping kit.

Where can I find more information?

For more information on the trapping program, please see the factsheet below.

To learn more about TPP you can visit the Agriculture Victoria webpage.

Biosecurity is all about protecting what we value most by preventing and managing harm caused by pests and diseases. ​One way you can get involved is by joining the Great Biosecurity Quest.

Visit the Biosecurity Quest webpage to find out more.

Join the Quest

Make a biosecurity report

Getting involved helps you to learn about biosecurity threats, so you know what to report and how to report it if you ever come across one.

If you need to make a biosecurity report you can do so through our website or the emergency pest and disease hotlines.

Make a biosecurity report