Written by Ed Curlett, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Are Japanese beetles eating your roses? Ever hear of the Mediterranean fruit fly? Is the Emerald Ash Borer infesting your backyard tree? All of these insects are plant pests from another part of the world, and they can harm you, your garden, our U.S. crops and even fragile ecosystems.
Are Japanese beetles eating your roses? Ever hear of the Mediterranean fruit fly? Is the Emerald Ash Borer infesting your backyard tree? All of these insects are plant pests from another part of the world, and they can harm you, your garden, our U.S. crops and even fragile ecosystems. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has declared August Invasive Plant Pest Awareness Month, and there are education and outreach activities happening across the country.
Several states are hosting Asian Longhorned Beetle awareness programs. This invasive beetle threatens urban tree canopies and the maple syrup industry. APHIS wants to teach the public how to identify this invasive insect and what to do to find it so it can be stopped before it spreads.
We are also opening a new Plant Inspection Station in Miami on August 17. It's the most recent addition to more than a dozen inspections stations across the country at busy port cities and commerce centers, where APHIS officials inspect plants, cuttings, and seeds and enforce rules and regulations related to the import and export of endangered plant species. The new $25 million, state-of-the-art facility was built to meet the increasing demand for inspection services and to protect Florida’s $87 billion agriculture industry.
Finally, APHIS plans to host a forum about pests in California where regulators, lawmakers, nonprofit organizations and agriculture groups will meet to discuss how they can work together better to stop the advance of invasive plant pests.
You can help stop invasive plant pests too, by learning how to spot some invasive pests, and how to help whether you're fishing, gardening, camping or travelling around the world.
