NASTY BUG THREATENS SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURE.Byline: SUSAN ABRAM Staff Writer In the insect world, the root weevil weevil, common name for certain beetles of the snout beetle family (Curculionidae), small, usually dull-colored, hard-bodied insects. The mouthparts of snout beetles are modified into down-curved snouts, or beaks, adapted for boring into plants; the jaws are at the is one bad bug. It hitchhikes on fancy nursery plants, then hops off to feed on the leaves of up to 270 plant varieties -- everything from citrus to hibiscus, avocado to oak. Its larvae Larvae, in Roman religion Larvae: see lemures. move underground, clinging to and chewing through roots. And if it's living the good life, it can survive for up to 18 months. It's so bad, it's even got its own ``Wanted'' posters, joining the likes of the fruit fly, the gypsy moth gypsy moth, common name for a moth, Lymantria dispar, of the tussock moth family, native to Europe and Asia. Its caterpillars, or larvae, defoliate deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs. Introduced from Europe into Massachusetts c. and the bark beetle bark beetle Any member of the beetle family Scolytidae, many of which severely damage trees. Bark beetles are cylindrical, brown or black, and usually less than 0.25 in. (6 mm) long. . ``Have you seen this bug?'' says the big red letters sent on postcards to 1.7 million addresses in 29 California counties. Officials with the 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 hope not. ``This is definitely one of the ones we'd like to get rid of,'' Jay Van Rein, a spokesman for the department, said Friday. ``We want to try to get as many eyes Many Eyes is an IBM project and website whose stated goal is to democratize information and to enable social data analysis ("social" in the sense of Web 2.0), by making it easy for laypeople to create, edit, share and discuss each other's visualizations. on it as we can. The sooner we can find it, the sooner we can get it out.'' This is the first time the state is using mass mailings of this magnitude to alert the public about a pest. Department officials hope postcards will encourage residents to report the bugs, averting a financial disaster that would include expensive quarantines. In 1994, a $71 million federal eradication plan began after the discovery of the crop-destroying 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. . Aerial sprayings of malathion over Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , Orange, and Riverside counties became common. The quarantine lasted for two years until the bug was eradicated. Some root weevils already have been found in shipments of plants from Florida and detected in urban landscapes in Newport Beach, Long Beach and San Diego, where small areas have been quarantined. ``It could change the face of urban landscaping here,'' Van Rein said. More worrisome are the citrus groves of Ventura County, where lemons, for example, were a $180 million industry last year. But the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys also are vulnerable. Large-scale developments that include giant landscaping projects can also be a beacon for the bug. ``It's considered to be very detrimental, very hard to eradicate,'' said Alan Laird, deputy for the Ventura County Agricultural Commission. ``We're a citrus-producing county. It's definitely a threat to that particular industry.'' The root weevil, slightly longer than a dime, was introduced from Florida in the early '60s from the Caribbean Islands. ``It's one bad actor,'' agreed Bob Blakely, director of growers for the California Citrus Mutual, a 2,000-member-strong organization. ``The pest has not been found statewide, but what we want to do is prevent it from being found statewide,'' he said. ``It only takes one of those to jeopardize whole industries.'' susan.abram@dailynews.com (818) 713-3664 To report sightings of the root weevil, call the California Department of Food and Agriculture hotline (800) 491-1899. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) The CFDA CFDA Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance CFDA Council of Fashion Designers of America (New York, New York, USA) CFDA California Funeral Directors Association CFDA Community Futures Development Association needs your help to find this pest, the Caribbean-native Diaprepes root weevil. It feeds on about 270 different plants. |
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