Country: United States

Title: Anastrepha ludens (Mexican fruit fly) – Removal of Quarantine Area in Los Angeles County, California – United States

Contact:
Wayne Burnett, APHIS Exotic Fruit Fly Director, Fruit Fly Exclusion and Detection Programs, (301) 734-4387

Report: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has removed the quarantine area for Mexican fruit fly from Los Angeles County, California, effective July 9, 2009.

On December 30, 2008, APHIS designated portions of Los Angeles County as a fruit fly quarantine area for Mexican fruit fly and applied restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles from that area to prevent the spread of Mexican fruit fly to non-infested areas of the United States. Since that time, APHIS has worked cooperatively with the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner to eradicate the transient population of Mexican fruit fly from that area through various population control actions, including the application of sterile insect technique and foliar bait sprays.

Eradication was concluded after sufficient time passed without finding additional Mexican fruit fly in the area. Specifically, an intensified fruit fly trap surveillance system was deployed and monitored for three life cycles, calculated through a modeling process specific for Mexican fruit fly. Accordingly, the Mexican fruit fly quarantine area was removed from Los Angeles County on July 9, 2009. This change to the quarantine area is reflected on the following designated website, which contains a description of all the current Federal fruit fly quarantine areas: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/fruit_flies/index.shtml  

Under IPPC standards, Anastrepha ludens is considered to be a pest that is absent: eradicated from Los Angeles County, California in the United States.
 

Posted Date: July 10, 2009, 9 a.m.