The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Texas Department of Agriculture has established a Mexican fruit fly quarantine in a resident area in Zapata, Texas.
The quarantine establishes safeguarding measures and restrictions on interstate movement or entry into foreign trade of regulated articles from the area, according to a news release from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
APHIS confirmed a Mexfly larva from a grapefruit in a residential area on May 11, and three more were found in residential areas nearby on May 12, 13 and 19, according to a news release.
A mated female was found on May 15. The quarantine area is about 80 square miles in Zapata County; there are no commercial groves or packing shed in the quarantined area. APHIS and the state department of agriculture are responding with surveys and treatment protocols, according to the USDA.
The USDA tracks fruit fly quarantines on its website.
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