Growers could be forced to choose between toxic sprays or encasing orchards in plastic netting, a symposium on the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) heard on Monday.
About 50 a year are intercepted at the New Zealand border, making it only a matter of time before the devastating bug slips through border controls.
The prolific breeder, with a voracious appetite for a wide range of plants, would have a wide economic and environmental impact in New Zealand should it establish itself.
The main problem with the bug is the way it feeds, injecting digestive enzymes into plants that cause deformation, discolouration and pitting.
The bug's name is well earned; they reek when squashed, which is of extra concern to the wine industry at harvest, when fruit is crushed.