U.S. Customs and Border Protection has intercepted a destructive alien pest on a Taiwanese ship at the Port of Hono-lulu, the agency announced Tuesday.

Customs agriculture specialists made the discovery in late September of 11 Asian gypsy moth egg masses, each of which could contain hundreds of eggs.

They were found during the deck sweep of the vessel and were on various surfaces of ship. Before allowing the processing of cargo, the agriculture specialists carefully scraped off the eggs and treated the surfaces.

This was the first discovery of this plant pest’s eggs in Hawaii.

The Asian gypsy moth is voracious and can eat more than 600 forest tree species, shrubs and other plants. It can spread quickly because the female can fly up to 25 miles, the agency said.

“If established in the United States, AGM could decimate America’s forest resources and agriculture production,” Customs and Border Protection said in a news release.