Three sapote fruit fly quarantines have been established in Texas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA). Altogether, the quarantines encompass approximately 1,102 acres of commercial citrus.
On Feb. 23, APHIS and TDA established one quarantine in Rio Hondo and another in Harlingen, Cameron County. They were designated the Rio Hondo and Harlingen quarantines, respectively.
On March 4, the agencies established an additional quarantine in Alamo, Hidalgo County, called the Alamo quarantine.
RIO HONDO
APHIS and TDA established the Rio Hondo quarantine in response to the detection on Jan. 29 of three sapote fruit fly larvae in sour orange collected on a residential property in Rio Hondo. The quarantine encompasses approximately 71 square miles with 153 acres of commercial citrus.
HARLINGEN
The agencies established the Harlingen quarantine in response to the detection on Feb. 12 of a wild mated female sapote fruit fly from a trap in a grapefruit tree on a residential property in Harlingen. The quarantine encompasses approximately 71 square miles with 743 acres of commercial citrus.
ALAMO
APHIS and TDA established the Alamo quarantine in response to the detection on Feb. 25 of a wild mated female sapote fruit fly from a trap in a sour orange tree on a residential property in Alamo. The quarantine encompasses approximately 71 square miles with 206 acres of commercial citrus.
APHIS is applying safeguarding measures and restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles to prevent the spread of sapote 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 the transient sapote fruit fly populations following program guidelines for survey, treatment and regulatory actions.
The APHIS Exotic Fruit Flies website contains descriptions and maps of current federal fruit fly quarantine areas.
Source: APHIS
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