-Grower and Marketer, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 26,2002
188
UNIVERSITY PARK
(Centre Co.) Clementines
a popular seasonal citrus
fruit similar to tangerines
may be in short supply after
the USDA’s recent ban on
Spanish clementine imports.
The ban is in response to
the discovery of Mediter
ranean fruit fly larvae in fruit
imported to the U.S. from
Spain, which supplies about
75 percent of the U.S.
clementine market.
Meanwhile, an entomolo
gist in Penn State’s College of
Agricultural Sciences is
working with USDA to pin
point the source of the latest
infestations, with an eye
toward eliminating potential
avenues for the pest’s intro
duction.
Bruce McPheron, professor
of entomology, is analyzing
DNA from medflies inter
cepted in Baltimore, Detroit,
and New Orleans to deter
mine their geographic origin.
“By identifying the source
of the infestation, we hope to
accomplish two things,” said
McPheron, whose laboratory
does genetic fingerprinting
for all medfly interceptions in
North America on behalf of
USDA’s Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service.
“First, we want to make sure
that there’s no established
population of medflies in the
U.S. Second, if we know
where they’re coming from,
we can close inspection loop
holes to eliminate their path
ways, as well as improve
production practices and
Entomologist Is Medfly Detective
postharvest treatment to
reduce the threat.
‘Medflies present no threat
to human health," said
McPheron. “If consumers in
Pennsylvania or other north
ern states find larvae in a
clementine this winter, they
can just throw it away or
return it to the store so that
officials can be contacted to
identify the larvae.
“The real threat is to the
fruit and vegetable industries
in states where the weather is
warm enough for the pest to
become established," Mc-
Pheron said. “In Pennsylva
nia, for instance, there’s no
fruit on the trees now to sup
port medfly reproduction,
and the adults wouldn’t sur
vive the cold winter
weather.”
In addition to the suspen
sion of clementine imports,
USDA has banned their sale
or distribution in 17 states
where medflies could survive.
Shipments to those states can
be destroyed or redirected to
be sold in approved cold
weather states.
Mediterranean fruit flies
are one of the world’s most
destructive agricultural pests.
They can infest more than
250 varieties of fruits and
vegetables. Female medflies
lay eggs under the skin of rip
ening fruit. After hatching,
the larvae eat the pulp, rot
ting the fruit.
Reduced fruit quality, lost
markets, increased use of
pesticides and other costs as
sociated with medflies could
total in the billions of dollars
for growers. The citrus indus
tries in California and Flor
ida spend millions of dollars
annually to prevent and mon
itor for infestations. Damage
done by the pest could reduce
fruit and vegetable supplies,
leading to higher consumer
prices.
When suspected infesta
tions are discovered, experts
in the field first identify the
larvae as medflies, then send
specimens to Penn State for
DNA analysis. “Genetic
markers help us to determine
whether an infestation is the
result of a new introduction
or the resurgence of an old
one that had been reduced to
undetectable levels by eradi
cation efforts,” said
(Continued from Page 15)
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Call Don Beidler today and help
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everywhere l
McPheron, whose medfly re
search has taken him virtu
ally around the world
collecting specimens.
Before importation, fruit
typically is quarantined in
cold storage or fumigated
with methyl bromide to elimi
nate exotic pests. But
McPheron said methyl bro
mide is being phased out be-
Exhibits, Schedule
cause of environmental
concerns and an effective al
ternative hasn’t been identi
fied. “The fact that we’ve
seen such a geographically
widespread introduction sug
gests some kind of break
down in the quarantine
system for fruit coming from
Europe,” he said.
' <»
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100 New Cultivars - Robert Berghage
I 30 Weed Control and Herbicides -Dr lames Sellmer Penn State
Umv
215 Post Harvest Handling - Steve Bogash Franklin Co Ext
300 Workinf with a Florist? What Does a Florist Want? -Or Kathy
Kelly Penn State Umv
- Monarch LN
Session Chair- Ken Martin
130 Advanced Agriculture - Understanding the Language of the
Plant - Denny Wildman Ohio
200 Grower Panel
300 Variety Update - Kenneth Martin Furman Foods Dr Steve
Garmson, Rutgers Umv
Report on Recent Test on Fruit Disease and Canker
Tolerance - Dr Alan Mac Nab Penn State Umv
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Martin Furman Foods
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