Country: United States

Title: Ceratitis capitata (Mediterranean fruit fly)--Quarantined Area Expansion in Los Angeles County, California - United States

Contact:
Wayne Burnett, Domestic Coordinator, Fruit Fly Exclusion and Detection Programs: (301) 734-4387

Report: Further detections of Ceratitis capitata, Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) have been confirmed in the Palos Verdes Peninsula area of Los Angeles County, California. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) finds it necessary to further expand the designated Medfly interstate quarantine area to include a greater portion of Los Angeles County. These actions are necessary to prevent the spread of Medfly to noninfested areas of the United States.

From October 24 through December 28, 2007, 12 mated and 6 unmated female Medflies, 2 male Medflies, and, 17 larvae were detected on 13 separate residential properties in the Palos Verdes Peninsula area. These detections triggered the initiation and two subsequent expansions of this quarantine. The expanded quarantine boundary encompasses approximately 103-square-miles of Los Angeles County. This is mostly a residential area; there is no commercial host production in the quarantine area.

Fruit fly traps are deployed at protocol levels to conduct a delimitation survey surrounding the detection sites. Spinosad foliar bait spray treatments are being applied to all host trees within 200 meters of the detection sites at 7- to 10-day intervals. The release of sterile male Medflies was intensified in a 54-square-mile area surrounding the detection sites at a release rate of 500,000 sterile Medflies per square mile per week. The weekly release of sterile Medflies will continue through two projected Medfly life cycles in the Palos Verdes Peninsula area.

Under IPPC Standards, Ceratitis capitata is considered to be a pest that is transient, actionable, and under eradication in the United States.
 

Posted Date: Jan. 28, 2008, 9 a.m.