People around the world have taken to e-commerce due to its convenience, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many people may not realize that plants and regulated goods, such as agricultural products, bought or sold online may carry pests and diseases that can harm a country’s flora. 

In 2021, Emily* unexpectedly received a parcel in her hometown in Christchurch, New Zealand. Her 12-year-old daughter had purchased insect eggs online without her knowledge. 

“My daughter has always loved insects. She has gone through different phases of loving sea creatures, ants and various insects,” Emily shared.

“But I wasn’t expecting to receive any packages during lockdown, so I was concerned. My daughter, who dreams of becoming an entomologist, told me that she bought the insect eggs online from Portugal. She was hoping to hatch them and keep them as pets,” she added.

Cautious of the eggs’ potential risks, Emily and her husband called a friend who advised them to contact New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). 

Carolyn Bleach, Manager of MPI’s Biosecurity Surveillance and Incursion Investigation Plant Health Team, said, “Once we receive a notification, we have the responsibility to contact [the notifier] within 30 minutes. We spoke to the mother and told her that we would need to remove the eggs to mitigate any risks.”

The MPI team instructed Emily to open the parcel carefully, take photos and put the parcel in the freezer overnight, then put it in her mailbox the next morning. MPI arranged for a contactless pickup by an Incursion Investigator to transport the eggs from Emily’s home to MPI’s plant health and environment laboratory to identify them and check if they posed any risks.