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) on Jan. 16 established a West Indian fruit fly (Anastrepha obliqua) quarantine in Mission, Hidalgo County, Texas. It is designated the Palmview quarantine. This action parallels a quarantine established by the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) on Jan. 13.
APHIS took the action in response to the confirmed detection of four West Indian fruit fly larvae in grapefruit collected on a residential property in Mission. The quarantine encompasses approximately 68 square miles with 512 acres of commercial citrus.
APHIS is applying safeguarding measures and restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles to prevent the spread of West Indian fruit fly to non-infested areas of the United States, as well as to prevent the entry of these fruit flies into foreign trade. APHIS is working with TDA to eradicate this transient West Indian fruit fly population following program guidelines for survey, treatment and regulatory actions.
The APHIS Exotic Fruit Flies website contains descriptions and maps of all current federal fruit fly quarantine areas. APHIS will publish a notice of this change in the Federal Register.
The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) reports that the West Indian fruit fly occurs throughout the Caribbean, south to southern Brazil. In the United States, it is found in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and was once found in Florida.
It was first discovered in Florida in 1930. As a result, a large fruit fly survey and eradication campaign was conducted from 1930 until 1936.
Learn more about the West Indian fruit fly from UF/IFAS here.
Source: APHIS
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