A 109-square-mile section of Santa Clara County has been quarantined after two female Mediterranean fruit flies were detected in San Jose. The Medfly infests over 250 produce varieties by laying eggs that hatch into maggots, rendering fruit inedible. The quarantine restricts movement of fruits and vegetables and affects retailers, wholesalers and growers within the zone spanning parts of San Jose, Los Gatos, Campbell and Santa Clara. Officials will release sterile male flies weekly across an 84.76-square-mile suppression area and will apply Spinosad and remove host fruit within specified distances to eliminate larvae and mated females.
If not stopped, Medflies can devastate fruits and vegetables grown in backyards and on local farms by reproducing and leaving larvae in produce, and the invasive flies can then spread to other regions, the department said. A quarantine is a way to minimize damage and stop the risk of spread by restricting the movement of fruits and vegetables. The area placed under quarantine extends from Trade Zone Boulevard south to Camden Avenue, and from San Tomas Expressway east to Evergreen Valley Community College, officials said.
Officials also plan to release 250,000 sterile male fruit flies per square mile per week into a 84.76-square mile area around the Medfly infestation, they said. The males will mate with the wild female flies but not be able to produce offspring, and the population will decline as the flies reach the end of their lifespan. The male flies were raised at a sterile insect-rearing facility in Los Alamitos, officials added.
#mediterranean-fruit-fly #quarantine #sterile-insect-technique #agricultural-pest-control #santa-clara-county
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