An Invasive Insect Pest Has Returned To California For The First Time In 20 Years
An Invasive Insect Pest Has Returned To California For The First Time In 20 Years
Since the state of California is so large in size, there is plenty of land available for crop production. The crops in California are not only keeping America fed, but the whole world gets a share of the agricultural products from this region. If these crops were to disappear, the world economy would suffer tremendously. Crop values in the state are well into the billions. Even people’s backyards are sprouting all sorts of vegetation, and tree growth is increasing rapidly. The last thing California needs is an invasive crop pest. Unfortunately, this is exactly what the state may now have. The Mediterranean fruit fly has been found on the coast in San Mateo County. This fly is a highly damaging crop pest that is invasive in the United States. Believe it or not, but these flies could alter the world economy. Hopefully these flies are not yet reproducing in large numbers within the state. But scientists are not even sure as to how the destructive fly arrived in the continental US in the first place.
The Mediterranean fruit fly has a history in the state of California, as this nasty customer damaged crops in the state over twenty years ago. The fly in native to Africa but it has spread to many parts of the world, such as Europe, the tropics, Australia, Hawaii and, of course, California. The fly was first trapped in the state of California back in 1975. The last time this invasive fly was spotted in San Mateo county was in 1994. However, this year the invasive fly may not be an issue for farmers. So far only one of these flies has been found, which makes experts think that the fly was transported to California via airline or by people bringing fruit into the state from Hawaii. The Mediterranean fruit fly is considered one of the world’s most damaging crop pests, as it destroys the widest range of host plants of all fruit flies. For now, all experts can do is ban the import of fruit from Hawaii and hope that this Mediterranean fruit fly is the only one they find.
Do you think that more of these invasive fruit flies will be found in the state this year or next?
