NAPA — Officials confirmed Wednesday that the light brown apple moth was spotted in a residential area of Napa County. The pest has spread to nine counties since its February sighting in Berkley, which according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is also the first time the bug has been found in the continental United States.
A lab confirmation by CDFA entomologists and supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) brought on the Tuesday morning announcement. And according to CDFA spokesman Steve Lyle, the pest doesn”t discriminate much about what it eats.
There are over 250 plant species on its list of “hosts,” he said, including some of Lake County”s biggest crops: pears, walnuts and grapes. Some other examples are citrus fruits, stone fruits (such as peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries, apricots), oak, willow, pine and eucalyptus and other types of trees, along with berries and other ornamental shrubs and bushes.
The moth attacks the leaves, new shoots and fruit of its host plants, according to the CDFA.
“This is not just a pest of agriculture but an environmental pest. It”s not just wine grapes and not just pear trees. The effects are being felt in residential areas and parks,” said Lyle. “We haven”t made any detections in Lake County and we hope it stays that way,” he added.
According to Lake County Deputy Agricultural Commissioner Chuck Morse, efforts to detect the moth”s presence early have been hampered by the necessary evils created in the big-picture state-wide prevention scheme.
He said the CDFA asked all of California”s counties in March to trap for the moth at the same density used for trapping the Mediterranean fruit fly, using a pheromone designed to attract males. The CDFA apparently had trouble getting enough of the pheromone from the manufacturer early on, creating a need to focus the existing supplies in the Bay Area counties.
“The lure was being diverted to the delimitation area in an attempt to get a handle on how far this thing had spread. That was the right thing to do, but the consequence was that we got less than half of what we needed,” said Morse.
He said 58 traps were deployed in Lake County. That number is expected to go up to 109 by one week from today, he said, which will be at the standard set by the CDFA.
Statewide, agricultural officials have quarantined about 182 square miles, including portions of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Marin and Santa Clara counties. That quarantine is expected to expand because of more recent light brown apple moth sightings in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties.
“Having it right next door is way too close,” said Morse of the recent sighting of the moth in the neighboring Napa County. He confirmed that none had been found in Lake County so far.
“It”s important not to portray it as a migratory pest,” said Lyle. “It”s not a strong flying pest so the spread is artificially caused, most likely by the movement of plants.”
When asked how a quarantine is carried out when the pest affects residential areas, Lyle explained that the CDFA advises the public not to move plants within a quarantined area. So if a someone living in a quarantined area should want to share flowers or produce growing in their yard with a friend, that would be highly discouraged, said Lyle.
“One of the biggest impacts this is going to have in California is the restriction of exports outside of the quarantined area to other locations in California and to other states, and maybe most significantly from California to other countries,” said Morse.
He noted that Mexico has said it will not accept any of the moth”s host plants from a quarantined area. “If we found one here, the entire county would be quarantined and those export restrictions would start kicking in,” he said.
Also Wednesday afternoon, State Senator Pat Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) pushed a bill to addrwss the potential threat of the light brown apple moth by its first legislative hurdle. It passed in the Senate Agriculture Committee Tuesday, appropriately the same day the moth was found in Napa.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
