Photo courtesy of Insects Unlocked from USA, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) recently amended three Mexican fruit fly (Mexfly) quarantines in Texas. This includes the Brownsville Mexfly quarantine in Cameron County and the Edinburg-Palmview and Donna Mexfly quarantines in Hidalgo County.
BROWNSVILLE
On May 15, the agencies expanded the Brownsville quarantine by 16 square miles, including 8 acres of commercial citrus. The action followed the detection confirmed on May 7 of one Mexfly larva in sour orange fruit on a residential property in Brownsville. The quarantine area is 126 square miles and includes 104 acres of commercial citrus.
EDINBURG-PALMVIEW
Also on May 15, APHIS and TDA adjusted the Edinburg-Palmview quarantine. They removed 18 square miles, including 236 acres of commercial citrus, from the northeast section of the Edinburg-Palmview quarantine. The removal was a result of three generations elapsing since the last Mexfly detection. APHIS and TDA expanded this quarantine following a detection, confirmed on May 9, of one Mexfly larva in grapefruit in a commercial grove in Mission. Additionally, APHIS and TDA amended the acreage of commercial citrus encompassed in this quarantine to remove acreage no longer in commercial production.
On June 3, APHIS and TDA again expanded the Edinburg-Palmview quarantine following a detection, confirmed on May 20, of one Mexfly larva in grapefruit in a commercial grove in McAllen. The May 15 and June 3 expansions resulted in the addition of 64 square miles to the quarantine area that includes 420 acres of commercial citrus. With these adjustments, the quarantine is now 300 square miles and includes 8,676 of commercial citrus.
DONNA
On May 19, the agencies reduced the Donna quarantine by 20 square miles, including 50 acres of commercial citrus, after three generations elapsed since the date of the last Mexfly detection in that portion. The amended quarantine area is 161 square miles and includes 1,800 acres of commercial citrus.
The APHIS exotic fruit flies web page contains descriptions and maps of the Mexfly quarantines and all current federal fruit fly quarantine areas.
Source: APHIS
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