SAN DIEGO –
Men in white protective suits and face shields sprayed citrus trees in the San Diego neighborhood of South Bay Terraces yesterday as part of an expanding war against a pest that is little bigger than a pinhead.
JOHN R. McCUTCHEN / Union-Tribune
Juan Carlos Hernandez served as a spotter as Javier Tovar sprayed pesticide on a grapefruit tree at a home in South Bay Terraces yesterday.
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The team from the state Department of Food and Agriculture sprayed pesticide in the backyards of 144 homes yesterday in a program to eradicate the Asian citrus psyllid, an aphidlike bug that can carry a bacterial disease fatal to citrus trees.
In South Bay Terraces, a neighborhood just north of Bonita, almost 500 sites are being treated with pesticide. It's the first area in San Diego County to get the extensive treatment since the citrus psyllids were discovered in the county in late August.
Similar treatments are planned for El Cajon, Jamul, Dulzura, Tecate and locations in Imperial County, department spokesman Steve Lyle said. The work is expected to be completed by Thanksgiving.
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Public meeting
The state agriculture department has been holding public meetings to answer questions about treatment plans for the infestations. The next meeting is 5 p.m. Thursday at the Dulzura Community Center, 1136 Community Building Road.
What to look for
The insect: The Asian citrus psyllid is aphidlike, brownish and about one-eighth-inch long as an adult. Eggs are bright yellow-orange, almond-shaped and appear in groups on new, unfolded leaves. Psyllid nymphs are dull orange, have red eyes and produce waxy tubules.
On citrus trees: Symptoms of huanglongbing, or HLB, may not show up for more than a year after infection. Symptoms include yellow mottling on both sides of leaves. Later symptoms include yellow shoots, lopsided, small fruit and premature and excessive dropping of fruit.
If you find the insect: Call the California Department of Food and Agriculture toll-free at (800) 491-1899.
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Citrus psyllids carrying a bacterial disease have caused the loss of tens of thousands of acres of commercial citrus in Florida. The bugs found here have so far tested negative for
huanglongbing, Chinese for “yellow shoot disease.”
The department is also carrying on a separate battle against the Mediterranean fruit fly, which can attack more than 250 types of fruits and vegetables. Three Medflies were recently found in traps in El Cajon on the southeast side of Interstate 8 near Greenfield Drive, and a fourth was found about 1½ miles away near Granite Hills Drive.
On Friday, millions of sterile male Mediterranean fruit flies were dropped by air over an 11-square-mile area of El Cajon. Blanketing an area with sterile male flies gradually wipes out the population because the female flies can't reproduce and die soon after mating.
Lyle said the both of the pests probably were introduced to California when someone unknowingly brought infected fruit to the state.
More than 1,200 traps were placed on citrus trees in South Bay Terraces, and the citrus psyllid showed up at 22 sites. All citrus trees within about a quarter-mile of the discoveries were treated with two pesticides.
Residents in the area received notices telling them to close their windows, take their laundry inside and move barbecues, lawn furniture and toys away from trees and shrubs.
At a backyard on Montcliff Avenue yesterday, workers sprayed a grapefruit tree where the pest had been spotted.
Resident Necie Harton, a renter who's been living at the house for four years, said she was glad the treatment was over.
“It's bothersome. It's just a pain,” she said.
Anne Krueger: (619) 593-4962; anne.krueger@uniontrib.com
