FRUIT FLY TRIGGERS TRAPPING; GROWERS, AGRICULTURE OFFICIALS ANXIOUS TO DETERMINE IF INFESTATION IMMINENT.Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer State and county agricultural crews are setting traps across 9 square miles in the heart of Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. after the discovery this week of a female Mexican fruit fly, a serious fruit-destroying pest, officials said. They are moving quickly to hang 400 glass-jar traps in citrus and avocado trees in residential yards to determine whether the fruit fly is a loner loner Psychiatry A single young man estranged from society and family, who suffers from psychogenic pain, and tends to live 'on the edge', vacillating between aggression and depression; loners often have unrealistic goals, but are unable to work towards those goals or signals an infestation infestation /in·fes·ta·tion/ (-fes-ta´shun) parasitic attack or subsistence on the skin and/or its appendages, as by insects, mites, or ticks; sometimes used to denote parasitic invasion of the organs and tissues, as by helminths. that must be eradicated. The answer won't come for 70 or so days, officials said. ``We've only found the one. That might mean there are more, that might mean it was just carried in,'' said Earl McPhail, the Ventura County agricultural commissioner. The single Mexican fruit fly was discovered in a backyard trap near Moorpark and Janss roads on Tuesday. A California Department of Food and Agriculture California Department of Food and Agriculture, which was established in 1919 by the California Legislature,[1] works in partnership with the agricultural industry and other governmental agencies to regulate various aspects dealing with food and agriculture related entomologist confirmed its identity on Wednesday, triggering the saturation trapping. This is the first Mexican fruit fly ever found through the annual trapping program the county operates across both residential and agricultural areas, McPhail said. Although not as infamous as the Mediterranean fruit fly Mediterranean fruit fly: see fruit fly. Mediterranean fruit fly or Med fly Fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata) proven to be particularly destructive to citrus crops, at great economic cost. , the Mexican fruit fly can be similarly destructive. Slightly larger than a housefly housefly, common name of the fly Musca domestica, found in most parts of the world. The housefly, a scavenger, does not bite living animals but is dangerous because it carries bacteria and protozoans that cause many serious diseases, e.g. with a yellow-brown body and wings banded with yellow and brown, the Mexican fruit fly attacks fruit by laying eggs under the skin. Maggots bore through the pulp and rot the fruit from the inside, and the infested in·fest tr.v. in·fest·ed, in·fest·ing, in·fests 1. To inhabit or overrun in numbers or quantities large enough to be harmful, threatening, or obnoxious: fruit drops to the ground where the fly pupates. Because agriculture is the number one industry in Ventura County, pumping nearly $1 billion into the economy, the discovery is a major concern. The county citrus industry generated $241 million and the avocado industry generated $59 million, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the most recent crop report. Longtime growers like John Lamb John Lamb may refer to:
``Hopefully this is something that's not real significant,'' said Lamb, a fifth-generation citrus and avocado grower with 270 acres in the Camarillo area. Lamb recalled the Mediterranean fruit fly infestation that required the first-ever aerial spraying of malathion in the county in 1994. The spray area covered 16 square miles, including half of Lamb's orchards, and all fruit within an 86-square-mile quarantine zone had to be treated. ``It ended up costing us conservatively a hundred grand or more that year because it really had a negative effect on our beneficial insects Beneficial Insects are any of a number of species of insects that perform valued services like pollination and pest control. The concept of beneficial is subjective and only arises in light of desired outcomes from a human perspective. . We had extra labor costs to spray trees and we weren't able to get into some markets,'' Lamb recalled. The glass-jar traps contain a water and yeast mixture baited with a protein bait that lures the Mexican fruit flies to their death. The traps will be checked through a minimum of two life cycles, or about 70 to 80 days, to determine if there is an infestation, said Fred Meyer, the state agricultural agency's area pest detection manager. ``We want to find out as quickly as possible exactly what we have there and where it is,'' said Meyer, who noted that the trapping can be expanded. CAPTION(S): Photo, Map PHOTO (Color) The discovery of a Mexican fruit fly has unleashed a wave of trap setting. Daily News file photo MAP: Site of discovered Mexican fruit fly Daily News |
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