Lockyer Valley lettuce growers are preparing for the eventual arrival of the lettuce aphid, which is likely to spread from Tasmania to other Australian states.

This follows a Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries meeting at Gatton to provide information on the lettuce aphid and its management.

DPI&F entomologist John Duff said most of the 40 lettuce growers who attended the meeting saw the future introduction of the aphid (Nasanovia ribisnigri) to Queensland as inevitable.

Mr Duff said most growers left the meeting better prepared to manage the new pest when it arrived.

He said the aphid attacked the growing tips of lettuce and was concentrated in the heart of the plant, making control very difficult. This pest also had a role in spreading certain viruses from crop to crop.

The aphid spread from New Zealand to Tasmania and was thought likely to reach Victoria and eventually other Australian lettuce growing areas.

Mr Duff said the meeting was told that growing resistant lettuce varieties and dipping seedlings in an appropriate insecticide would reduce the impact of the pest.

He said seed companies would be planting aphid resistant lettuce variety trials throughout the coming growing season so that growers could see their suitability for growing conditions as well as their likely market acceptance.

"Beneficial insects also have an important role in managing the lettuce aphid so another action is to conserve these as much as possible."

Mr Duff said as part of a national response to the pest he would be attending a meeting in Melbourne at which entomologists would discuss research needs and formulate an action plan.

He said as early detection was a key to effective management, growers should remain on the lookout for the aphid.

The DPI&F was planning surveys and further extension activities to ensure all lettuce growers had the latest information on the pest.

Mr Duff said the lettuce aphid spread as a winged adult or in seedlings and was difficult to control with chemicals alone because of resistance.

He said the aphid was also found in Europe, North and South America and New Zealand but until March this year had not been found in Australia.

The Lockyer Valley is Queensland's largest lettuce growing area.