Fortunately, the pests were found by a dog inspection team at the Fresno airport before the package they were traveling in was opened. Just to be safe, trapping and detection efforts have been increased in the area around the airport.

Huanglongbing, commonly known as citrus greening disease, ranks among the most feared crop diseases in the United States. Little is known about the disease, other than there is currently no treatment or cure for infected trees. Once a tree has been infected, it’s only a matter of time before the fruit becomes misshapen and bitter. Florida’s citrus industry has suffered tremendous impacts from citrus greening disease, with tens of thousands of acres of trees being uprooted and burned to kill the disease. Psyllids are currently found in Texas, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, in addition to Southern California.

It’s important to note that the Asian citrus psyllid is a carrier, or vector, of HLB—not the source of the disease. Psyllids feed on citrus trees and, if they feed on a diseased tree, can spread the disease to uninfected trees. Research is underway at universities and other institutions across the globe to determine how to treat diseased trees.

California has thus far been fortunate that the Asian citrus psyllids found in San Diego and Imperial Counties have not carried HLB. The find in Fresno raises the bar. The citrus industry has already imposed an assessment fee on each box of citrus growers sell, and growers have said they are happy to pay it—if not, their livelihood could be wiped out.

California is a major citrus supplier to the U.S. and abroad. The HLB find is yet another indication of the dangers posed by invasive pests and the devastation they may spread. Big kudos to the dog inspection team in Fresno—thanks for helping keep California safe from invasive pests!

Helene Wright
California State Plant Health Director
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
United States Department of Agriculture

California has been able to build one of the most efficient economies in the world, as well as a superior quality of life, thanks in no small part to a vibrant agricultural community that feeds much of our nation and many people around the world. However, as more international travelers visit California and trade continues to increase, the threat of new invasive species arriving here grows every day.

The world is changing—more individuals understand the importance of protecting our environment and many farmers are increasing production of organics or increasing integrated pest management techniques—but we can all agree that the preferable option when it comes to invasive species is prevention instead of eradication. However, once a pest is introduced to our environment, the logical plan must be to implement a program that rids our state of the intruder as soon as possible and in a manner that protects all of our citizens.

That’s why the Invasive Species Coalition wholeheartedly endorses the HungryPests Coalition’s objective, which is to support “the preservation of our gardens, farms, forests, parks, and other plant life through public education about the need to control or eliminate invasive pests that threaten these resources.” Our hope is that anyone with an interest in doing the same will join us in these efforts.

Barry J. Bedwell
President
California Grape and Tree Fruit League

Co-chair
Invasive Species Coalition

I am extremely enthusiastic about this campaign. I have been working on invasive pest issues for the USDA in the State of California for almost 20 years, and this is the first time we’ve undertaken a campaign that is as informative and attention-grabbing as this.

The message about the dangers posed by invasive pests is an important one.  Few residents are aware of the serious threat invasive pests pose to California’s agricultural and natural resources and to its economy.

This awareness is important, because our actions can easily contribute to the problem. It may seem harmless, even generous, to bring back a unique piece of fruit from a foreign land (or another state) to share with your family and friends…but that seemingly harmless act could greatly impact California. That good looking piece of fruit could be harboring pest eggs, which grow into larvae, which would likely cause you to toss the fruit into your compost pile. But those larvae may enter our ecosystem, begin reproducing and spread beyond your yard before you know it. That pest could potentially spread to commercial agricultural areas, damage crops and impact the availability of fresh produce both in your area and statewide—not to mention affecting the livelihood of those who grow and harvest it.

Similarly, it is important for the public to be aware that the effort to find smart solutions is ongoing and urgent. Invasive pests represent a very real threat.

From about 1980 to 2000, USDA and California Department of Food and Agriculture spent more than $300 million on fruit fly eradication programs alone. And that’s just fruit flies—it doesn’t take into account other pests like the emerald ash borer, false codling moth, Asian citrus psyllid or marine pests like quagga mussels.

USDA is working to find smart solutions to this threat. We realize that by raising awareness of invasive pests, we’re asking Californians to think about one more thing, on top of everything else people are thinking and worrying about these days. But this is the first step—to help people understand the nature of the problem and learn about what the solutions might be. I hope people will take the next step after viewing the ads and visit www.hungrypests.com to learn more about the invasive pests currently posing the greatest threats to California’s agriculture, horticulture, landscaping and environment.

Keep an eye on your television and newspapers and listen to your radio starting August 17 when our Hungry Pests campaign begins in California. We expect it will raise some eyebrows as well as awareness of invasive species issues.

Larry Hawkins
Legislative and Public Affairs Officer
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
United States Department of Agriculture

For example, some areas of the County are currently under Medfly quarantine. After several years of no Medfly problems, we’re experiencing the second outbreak this year. Both Spring Valley and Mira Mesa, near the Mira Mar Marine Corps base featured in “Top Gun,” are quarantined. Medflies were found in backyard trees through the ongoing fruit fly detection program conducted by the County with federal and state funding.

Trapper placing a Jackson Trap in an urban area of San Diego County to monitor the Medfly population. Photo Credit: San Diego County Agriculture Department

Neither of these areas have any commercial agricultural production, but it’s always a concern that backyard fruit, and with it the fly, will be moved. Both areas had larval properties identified, which confirms that the Medfly reproduced and shows the potential for the fly to spread.

A few methods are used to manage Medfly outbreaks. The Sterile Insect Technique, or SIT, is being used with the Mira Mesa outbreak. We’re using a newer technique that makes raising the sterile male flies used in SIT more efficient and effective. Previously, both male and female flies were raised and released. Now, temperature control is used in raising the flies. As larval maggots feed, the temperature is raised to a critical level. This strain of females is sensitive to temperature and die, which means we are only raising males from the maggot stage to adults. That means we are feeding and handling about half the number of flies. The second advantage is that there are no sterile females to distract the males from finding fertile females.

Ground treatments are also used around properties with mated females and larval stages. An insecticide developed from naturally occurring bacteria is sprayed on foliage around the property so any adult Medflies will feed on it and die. We release sterile flies for two generations and the area is quarantined for a total of three generations. Then we monitor the area as the sterile flies die out, to ensure the entire population has actually died out.

Of course, the best way to manage pest outbreaks is through prevention. San   Diego recently received its first dog team. The dog, Friday, and her handler visit small parcel carriers and inspect packages for agricultural material. If any ag material is found, the handler determines if it is a legal shipment or if it is in violation of state and federal quarantine laws.

Detector Dog Friday and her handler, Agricultural/Standards Inspector Jeremy Partch, inspect packages during a training exercise in Orlando. Photo Credit: San Diego County Agriculture Department

Detection methods like this give us early warning when a population threatens to become established. There will always be pests posing dangers to our agriculture, but we’re working hard to stay at least one step ahead.

Robert Atkins
Agricultural Commissioner, San Diego County

From May 2008 to May 2009, the number of square miles where LBAM is found in California has nearly doubled—from 509 square miles to 980 square miles. The number of square miles in California under quarantine grew from 1,860 square miles in May 2008 to 2,922 square miles in May 2009, an increase of more than 1,000 square miles.

Click on the chart image to enlarge.

Population numbers for the first half of 2009 are rivaling and even exceeding the number found in some areas in all of 2008. LBAM is being found in new counties (such as San Joaquin, Ventura and Yolo Counties) and the LBAM population is rapidly increasing in counties where it is already established.

For example, in Alameda County, 10,277 LBAMs have been found in the first half of 2009, compared to 1,528 found in all of 2008. That’s a more than 600 percent increase. In Contra Costa County, the number has more than doubled, from 1,283 in 2008 to 2,888 so far in 2009. And in Marin County, the number has quadrupled: from 927 in 2008 to 3,825 so far in 2009.

And in other areas, the mid-year numbers have already exceeded 2008 totals—with another six months left to go this year. For example, in Santa Cruz County, there were 15,439 LBAM finds in all of 2008…and there have been 18,287 LBAM finds in the first half of 2009. San Francisco County numbers are similar, with 16,001 LBAM finds in 2008 and 24,136 LBAM finds in the first half of 2009.

This certainly shows that LBAM is here and it is hungry! We’ll talk in future posts about different management methods, so check back soon.

Helene Wright
California State Plant Health Director
United States Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Commentary: City residents and farmers should work together against moth

By Paul Underhill

Organic farmers spend lots of time walking their fields, looking for insects and diseases. We know there are some insects we don’t need to worry about, while others potentially can threaten an entire crop. When we find the latter, we act quickly to eliminate them before their populations explode, using pest controls that are ecologically friendly and approved for use in organic farming.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently declared Yolo and Solano counties under quarantine after the discovery of two light brown apple moths in Davis. The apple moth is a non-native pest that infests native vegetation, ornamental plants and food crops.

Farmers in Yolo and Solano counties are the local group most impacted by the quarantine. The infestation is currently isolated to the city of Davis, and the moths probably were brought in on ornamental plants. It is critical to local farmers that the infestation not spread to the agricultural areas of our county. Why?

First, an extensive infestation will make it extremely difficult and expensive for growers to move much of our produce out of the county, and even harder to ship out of state. Large and small farmers alike will be affected.

For example, growers who take vegetables or fruit to farmers markets in the Sacramento area would be required to have USDA inspectors on site before harvesting many of their crops. Any crops found to be infested would not be allowed to leave the farm. Larger farms shipping crops out of state or out of the country would be subject to similar inspections and rules.

Second, if a larger infestation occurs, USDA would begin requiring growers to treat broad swaths of farmland with pesticides to control the moth. Organic farmers will use organically approved methods to do this, but we will be forced to spray much more extensively, and frequently, than we currently do.

This is why your local chapter of California Certified Organic Farmers is asking you to fully support the efforts of the Yolo County Agriculture Department to contain the light brown apple moth infestation in Davis and prevent its spread.

Yolo County Agricultural Commissioner Rick Landon already has agreed to use only organically approved pest control measures and he has no plans for aerial spraying within the city of Davis. One method he plans to use is pheromone traps and confusion lures (twist ties) to keep the moths from breeding. Pheromones are not pesticides, are naturally occurring and are used in extremely low doses.

The county also plans to use Bt, an organically approved, naturally occurring insecticide used by many organic farmers. Bt is toxic only to caterpillars and does not affect beneficial insects. It biodegrades quickly in the environment, and is considered by the Environmental Protection Agency to have extremely low risk to humans.

Organic farmers in Yolo County use pheromone sprays and twist ties to control pests in walnuts, apples, pears, peaches and other tree crops. We use Bt selectively to control caterpillars in tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, tree fruit and dozens of other crops on our farms—and thus, often right around our own homes. We believe the material is completely safe for humans when used appropriately.

To put it in perspective, these two methods are vastly safer than the majority of insect control products sold in your local garden supply store, any of which may already be used by your next-door neighbor without your consent.

There are many questions about the light brown apple moth that are still unresolved, but one fact is clear: The USDA and California Department of Food and Agriculture consider this non-native pest a threat, and they have no intention of allowing it to spread farther into the Central Valley.

The Davis infestation appears to be small, and we have a unique opportunity to control and, if possible, eradicate it using organically approved materials. We hope you will join us in supporting this effort.

(Paul Underhill owns Terra Firma Farm in Winters. He is the Yolo chapter board representative for California Certified Organic Farmers and a member of the Yolo County Farm Bureau board of directors. This commentary was originally published in the Davis Enterprise.)

Take a look below at some of these threatening invasives and learn more about what California plants and produce they like to eat

This tiny insect (about 4 mm in length) was identified as Blissus sp., a genus that contains turf grass pests. Although found in a pineapple shipment, this pest would be of more concern to golf courses and homeowners, as well as pasture land managers.

This beetle, identified as Myochrous sp., was also found with a pineapple shipment. Members of this genus include some cereal crop pests, and they could potentially cause problems for our corn growers.

Among the plethora of hitchhiking pests in pineapple shipments are a number of invasive weed seeds.

Rottboellia cochinchinensis (a.k.a itchgrass) is an invasive weed not only in pineapple but also in sugarcane, corn, rice, cotton, soybeans, peanuts, and other warm-season crops. It thrives in rangeland, cropland, and any disturbed areas. This grass is a prolific seed producer. It is tolerant to most herbicides and is difficult to manually control due to the irritating hairs covering the stems.

Tridax procumbens (a.k.a. coat buttons) is a daisy-like weed that occurs in annual crops, pastures, and roadsides. It produces spreading stems and extremely abundant wind-dispersed seed, as many as 1500 achenes per plant.

Photos and blog entry by:
Kristen Kaser, Botanist, and
Liana Morishita, Entomologist
United States Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services
Port of Long Beach Work Unit

Many insect pests have a short lifecycle of only 60 – 90 days. During this time, they mature, reproduce and die. Their numbers quickly grow exponentially. While it can take years for the damage they wreak to become casually apparent, once that level of infestation has been reached it can be almost impossible to eliminate or effectively control the pest. Early management is absolutely essential.

One of the most effective and environmentally safe approaches for pest management, is to control the rapid population growth by disrupting the insect’s mating cycle.

Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is one successful mating disruption method. In SIT, sterilized insects are released into the natural environment. These sterile bugs then mate with fertile pests resulting in infertile eggs.

SIT requires growing vast numbers of insects in a lab where they are sterilized with gamma rays. Because very low levels of radiation are used, the insects do not become radioactive in any way that could be harmful to other organisms.

This form of invasive pest mating disruption has been successful in eradicating many damaging pests. In California alone, the method has been used to fight the Mediterranean fruit fly, Mexican fruit fly and Pink bollworm moth.

Helene Wright
California State Plant Health Director
United States Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

California is rich with greenery and vegetation that many of us enjoy. Unfortunately, invasive pests also enjoy these resources and can spread quickly across the State unnoticed.

Establishing an agriculture quarantine means restricting the pests from traveling undetected in the “host materials” they like to eat. Most pests don’t move significant distances alone. They travel as hitchhikers on host plants, fruits or vegetables and move with us to our homes, yards, gardens, and parks. Who expected that pests would be moving in cars, planes and trains?

Let’s say you visit friends in a quarantined area where an invasive pest has been identified. Your friends offer you delicious homegrown produce or a plant from their garden. Even perfectly wholesome-looking fruits and vegetables could harbor certain insects that lay tiny eggs so small you can’t see them. While you happily traveling home with your gift produce or plant, you could unknowingly be bringing an invasive pest into an non-infested area of the State. That artificial movement of a bug or disease could impact California’s rich landscape, gardens and economy.

The quarantine process is a significant step in controlling this movement. Once the pest has been eliminated from the area, quarantine regulations are lifted and all Californians can freely enjoy the abundance of vegetables, parks, and forests without the threat of a hungry pest.

Helene Wright
California State Plant Health Director
United States Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

This blog is an extension of our comprehensive website HungryPests.com that features some of the more damaging pests that cause farmers, nursery owners, gardeners, park-lovers and other Californians heartache because these pests are eating much of California’s resources.

You can also follow me at the HungryPests Twitter feed to get real-time news updates, useful and informative links, or to simply share your view. If you are on Facebook, I invite you to join our HungryPests cause group. Finally, a HungryPests YouTube channel will feature informative videos that you can share with others.

Indeed, there’s a recurring “hungry pests” theme here. Why? Because these pests are here in California and they’re hungry!

Come back often to read our latest posts, to comment, and to share your stories.

Helene Wright
California State Plant Health Director
United States Department of Agriculture