Federal and state agriculture officials on Jan. 26 established a Mexican fruit fly (Mexfly) quarantine in Granjeno, Hidalgo County, Texas, designated the Granjeno quarantine. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) took the action.
Photo by Jack Dykinga, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Bugwood.org
APHIS and TDA established the Granjeno quarantine in response to the detection on Jan. 16 of a wild mated female Mexfly from a trap in a grapefruit tree in a commercial citrus grove in Granjeno. The quarantine encompasses approximately 50 square miles with 213 acres of commercial citrus.
APHIS is applying safeguarding measures and restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles to prevent the spread of Mexfly 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 the transient pest population following program guidelines for survey, treatment and regulatory actions.
APHIS has issued numerous updates concerning Mexfly quarantines in Texas over the past several years. Learn here about Mexfly actions taken in December 2025.
The APHIS Exotic Fruit Flies website contains descriptions and maps of all current federal fruit fly quarantine areas. The website reports that Mexfly was first found in central Mexico in 1863 and along the California-Mexico border by the early 1950s. Today, the pest continues to pose a serious threat for the Texas citrus industry and a wide range of other valuable U.S. crops.
Source: APHIS
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