Photo by Jeffrey W. Lotz, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Bugwood.org
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) in April made several changes to Mexican fruit fly (Mexfly) quarantines in Texas. This includes:
- Expanding the quarantine in Sullivan City, Hidalgo and Starr counties
- Establishing a quarantine in Roma, Starr County
- Expanding and consolidating the Edinburg and Palmview quarantines in Hidalgo County
- Expanding the Harlingen-Sebastian quarantine in Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties
- Expanding the Donna quarantine in Hidalgo County
SULLIVAN CITY
The Sullivan City quarantine was expanded by 24 square miles to 79 square miles following detection March 12 of Mexfly larvae in sour orange fruits on a residential property. The quarantine area contains no commercial agriculture.
ROMA
The agencies established the Roma quarantine following detection March 25 of Mexfly larvae in sweet orange fruits on a residential property. The quarantine area is 43 square miles and contains no commercial agriculture.
EDINBURG-PALMVIEW
The Edinburg and Palmview quarantines were expanded by 115 square miles, resulting in a consolidated Edinburg-Palmview quarantine of 255 square miles. The expansion followed confirmed detections between March 18 and April 2 of Mexfly larvae in sour orange fruits on residential properties in Edinburg and McAllen and in grapefruit in a commercial grove in Mission. The consolidated quarantine area contains 8,705 acres of commercial citrus.
HARLINGEN-SEBASTIAN
APHIS and TDA expanded the Harlingen-Sebastian quarantine by 39 square miles to 442 square miles following the confirmed detection March 20 of a wild mated female Mexfly in a trap on a sweet orange tree on a residential property in Lyford. The quarantine area contains 1,474 acres of commercial citrus.
DONNA
The Donna quarantine was expanded by 14 square miles to 182 square miles following the confirmed detection March 13 of Mexfly larvae in sour orange fruits on a residential property in Edinburg.
The APHIS exotic fruit flies website contains descriptions and maps of the quarantine areas.
Source: APHIS
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