County agricultural technicians are in for a busy spring. This week, they started deploying 2,300 insect traps to determine if two destructive crop pests have arrived in the county.
“It’s going to be an intensive next three months,” trapper technician Jutta Thoerner said as she placed a bright red trap on a vine in Paragon Vineyards just south of San Luis Obispo.
Thoerner and her partner, Laura Hebert, are part of a team of 10 technicians who will blanket agricultural and urban areas of the county with one trap per 40 acres, starting first with the South County and then moving on to the North County.
Their work is part of a massive statewide effort by the state Department of Food and Agriculture to determine the spread of the European grapevine moth and the Asian citrus psyllid.
The traps use a pheromone specific to those insects to attract the bugs and sticky surfaces to hold them once they enter the trap.
Of particular concern is the grapevine moth because it threatens the county’s $124 million wine grape industry. The moth eats flowers and grape bunches and has already been discovered in Napa County.
The citrus psyllid is a threat because it can spread citrus greening disease, which is fatal to most citrus trees. The insect, but not the disease, has been found in six Southern California counties.
“No one knows how these pests entered into California,” said Bob Lilley, county agricultural commissioner. “If they are here, the hope is we will have small populations in limited areas so they can be quickly brought under control.”
Reach David Sneed at 781-7930.
European Grapevine Moth
Lobesia botrana
Actual size: 1/2 inch.
A significant pest in Europe, the Mediterranean, southern Russia, Japan, the Middle East, Near East, and northern and western Africa. The moth’s larvae feed on grapes and other crops, including olives, blackberries, cherries, nectarines, persimmons and pomegranates.
Larvae feed on the flowers of grapes. Adult moths’ forewings have a mosaic-shaped pattern with black, brown, cream, red and blue ornamentation.
Source: University of Minnesota/THE FRESNO BEE
SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.
Here are some rules of the road:
You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@thetribunenews.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@thetribunenews.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
Be the first to know what's going on in San Luis Obispo County. Just tell us how you want to find out — we'll take care of the rest.
Sign up for breaking news alerts from SanLuisObispo.com and get the latest news sent to your cell phone via text message.
By signing up for alerts from this site, you are signing up for a program that may include up to 5 SMS text alert(s) per alert category per day. There is no service fee charged per month but your carrier's standard text messaging and other charges may apply. You may stop this subscription service at any time by sending the text message "STOP" to 72737. You must be at least thirteen (13) years of age to use our alert services. If you are between 13 and 17 years old, you agree that you have received parental permission both to complete the registration process and to receive SMS content on your cell phone. For help, send the text message "HELP" to 72737. This service will work with ATT, Verizon, Sprint, Nextel, Alltell, US Cellular, Cincinnati Bell, Boost, Virgin Mobile USA, Celluar South, Telos, Centennial, East Kentucky Network, Cellcom, Immix and Rural Celluar.
E-mail »
Twitter »
Facebook »
iTribune »
Subscribe »
RSS »
About comments
Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.