HungryPests Blog

Sterile Medfly Quality Control. Photo courtesy Mike Arbogast, USDA.

I wrote a blog entry a few months ago about invasive pests in San Diego County, focusing on Medfly because quarantine was in place in the Mira Mesa area. Well, we recently had new Medfly detections in Fallbrook and now have an active treatment program underway.

Two adult male flies were detected in one trap on October 29 and a mated female fly in another trap on November 1. Fallbrook is in northern San Diego County, an area known for its agriculture. The treatment plan includes using the Sterile Insect Technique, fruit stripping from trees within 100 meters of the infested sites and applying an insecticide developed from naturally occurring bacteria to foliage within one-eighth mile of the infested sites so any adult Medflies will feed on it and die.  Read more... (381 words, 2 images, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)