On May 18, 2010, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency notified Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service about an interception of Duponchelia fovealis larvae in a nursery shipment from San Diego County, Calif. Since this notification, APHIS has worked closely with the Calif. Dept. of Food & Agriculture and San Diego County to survey the area of concern. On July 16, APHIS confirmed the detection of D. fovealis at a greenhouse in Vista, Calif. Trace-forward information provided by the affected nursery resulted in the expansion of detection surveys in 26 counties within California. Although detection survey data confirm the presence of D. fovealis in 16 counties in California, APHIS has not received reports of damage caused by this pest.
During the months of September and October, APHIS and State Departments of Agriculture have confirmed the presence of D. fovealis in portions of 12 additional states including: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas and Washington.
D. fovealis, which originated in southern Europe and North Africa, is considered to be a greenhouse pest. It is not very cold tolerant.
Pictured: Adult male Duponchelia fovealis in pheromone trap in San Diego County.
Photo by Marc Epstein, Calif. Dept. of Food & Agriculture