In early 2007 another new and potentially destructive pest was found within
California borders. Once identified as light brown apple moth, it sent state and federal plant protection officials into a frenzy.
Florida banned all
California plants no matter how far exporting nurseries were from the outbreak in
Northern California. I discussed the situation with CANGC’s Robert Falconer.
Q. What is the light brown apple moth, and where is it from?
A. Light brown apple moth, or LBAM, is a leaf roller in the order Lepidoptera and family Tortricidae. Its scientific name is Epiphyas postvittana.
This moth is originally from
Australia and has become established in
New Zealand,
New Caledonia,
Hawaii and the
British Isles.
Q. Where has it been found in
California, and has it been found near any nurseries?
A. LBAM has been found in portions of
Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin,
San Francisco,
San Mateo,
Santa Clara,
Santa Cruz and
Monterey counties.
There is significant nursery production in some of these areas. The vast majority of the detections have been from two geographical locations. These are a small section in southern
Santa CruzCounty and an area around the
San FranciscoBay.
Q. Any idea of how it got to
California?
A. USDA records show that of the interceptions made since the mid-1980s, 96 percent have been from international airline passengers. There is no definitive answer at this time, however, as to how this infestation occurred.
Q. In what climates can this pest live? How much of the
United States is a potential home, and how extensive is this pest’s host range?
A. A USDA report states that E. postvittana is found in northern Europe, southern
Australia,
New Zealand and
Hawaii.
The climate within its range can be generally characterized as temperate, tropical or dry. Based on this, approximately 80 percent of the
United States would be suitable climatically for LBAM. The host range is large and consists of over 200 plants in 120 plant genera in 50 families.
Q. What was the industry’s reaction to CDFA’s initial announcement on LBAM?
A. The initial reaction was, “Here we go again.” This is the sixth major pest or disease outbreak we’ve had to deal with in about as many years.
The nursery industry isn’t doing anything dramatically different than it has for decades. The problem stems from the breakdown of the pest exclusion and detection system in this country.
Q. Florida responded by banning all shipments of
California plants -- even cut flowers. Was this justified, especially considering LBAM was found in a relatively limited area of a vast state?
A. In our view it was not justified. Notwithstanding the fact that they took action early in the delimitation phase, to prohibit plants not even on the host list seemed a bit over reaching.
Q. Did the federal quarantine help the situation with
Florida?
A. Yes.
Florida rescinded its quarantine when the federal quarantine went into effect.
Q. Isn’t this reminiscent of what many state departments of agriculture did in the wake of Phytophthora ramorum in 2004? How can we prevent this from continuing to happen?
A. It is very reminiscent of 2004. It is our understanding that other states were considering LBAM actions similar to
Florida’s as well.
I believe USDA heeded the lessons learned from 2004 and acted in a much more timely fashion, which saved everyone concerned a lot of heartburn and angst.
How we prevent this from happening again is to fix our pest exclusion and detection system. The bottom line is our system has not kept up with our increasingly mobile society and international trade practices. In addition to the problems in
California,
Florida has had many serious outbreaks, not to mention pest introductions in other parts of the country.
CANGC is working at the state and federal level to increase budgets and make important changes to restore these vital programs that are necessary to allow the nursery industry to grow and thrive.
Name: Robert Falconer
Title: Executive vice president.
Firm:California Association of Nurseries and
GardenCenters, (800) 748-6214;
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
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