QFF quarantine in LA, Ventura counties amongst seven fruit fly quarantines statewide
Residents in a number of Southern California and Northern California counties mustn’t transfer homegrown vegatables and fruits from their properties to assist include a number of species of fruit fly that may destroy crops and impression the livelihoods of native farmers.
With sharing and gifting of meals integral to the vacation season, the California Division of Meals and Agriculture is reminding people to heed the seven lively fruit fly quarantines geared toward controlling the Mediterranean fruit fly, Oriental fruit fly, Tau fly and Queensland fruit fly. The hyperlinks under describe quarantine zone boundaries:
Folks inside these zones ought to devour or course of (i.e., juice, freeze or cook dinner) their homegrown vegatables and fruits on the homeland and never transfer them off their property. Uneaten produce must be double-bagged in plastic baggage and disposed of within the landfill bin – not compost or inexperienced waste.
Queensland fruit fly threatens California citrus, different crops
The Queensland fruit fly (Bactrocera tryoni) quarantine is the primary of its variety within the U.S. Though QFF was first seen in California in 1985, the latest detection of two grownup males triggered the unprecedented quarantine motion by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and CDFA.
The highly adaptable Queensland fruit fly has more than 170 host plants, making it a threat to a wide variety of California commodities. Photo: Pest and Diseases Image Library, Bugwood.org; licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License
“This pest has earned a nasty popularity for wreaking havoc on fruit manufacturing in Australia, the place it’s native,” mentioned Hamutahl Cohen, College of California Cooperative Extension entomology advisor for Ventura County. “Grownup flies lay their eggs in fruit, and the eggs hatch into larvae that then feed on the fruit, inflicting harm.”
And whereas females of different fruit fly species dwell for less than two or three months, QFF females are distinctive in that they will dwell as much as a yr, in keeping with Cohen.
“As soon as QFF populations take root, they’re difficult to handle as a result of females can every lay as much as 100 eggs per day,” Cohen mentioned.
Along with being extremely adaptable to quite a lot of environmental situations, QFF has greater than 170 host crops – together with a variety of California commodities similar to citrus, grape, strawberry, fig, avocado, apricot, peach, cherry, nectarine, plum, pear, apple, tomato and candy pepper.
The menace to citrus is very regarding, as Southern California growers proceed to grapple with the specter of spreading huanglongbing (HLB) illness, which kills citrus bushes. Cohen mentioned residents of citrus-growing areas can do their half to assist their neighbors and native financial system by respecting quarantine restrictions.
“Growers are already coping with different invasive species like Asian citrus psyllid [vector of HLB pathogen], so we as householders want to stop the unfold of fruit flies to scale back the burden on them,” she defined.
Whereas a spike this yr within the detections of a number of fruit fly species was probably brought on by a number of things, Cohen speculates that elevated post-pandemic journey helps to maneuver the flies. And with vacation journey in full swing, she mentioned it is essential to follow “Do not Pack a Pest” ideas.
“Invasive species usually hitchhike on vegatables and fruits introduced into California by vacationers – that is why we regularly first discover invasive species in city and suburban backyards, and never on farms,” Cohen mentioned. “Vacationers getting into the U.S. can go to dontpackapest.com to study which merchandise they will and can’t carry again with them.”
To report a suspected infestation of fruit fly larvae in homegrown produce, name the CDFA pest hotline at 1-800-491-1899. Growers with questions and issues are urged to contact their native agricultural commissioner’s workplace.
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