Apple Moths Prompt Plant, Fruit Quarantine
Thursday, Jan 7, 2010 | Updated 3:00 PM PST
Getty Images
Quarantine that fruit.
A nine-square-mile area of Long Beach was under a plant-and-fruit quarantine Wednesday.
The culprit? Sixteen light brown apple moths in the area, according to the state Department of Food and Agriculture.
Residents and business owners in the quarantine area are prohibited from moving nursery stock, cut flowers, fruits and vegetables out of the area until the infestation is eliminated through the use of sterile insects.
The quarantine area is roughly between Alamitos Avenue on the west and Pacific Coast Highway/Bellflower Boulevard on the east, from the coast to PCH.
The light brown apple moth is native to Australia and can infest more than 250 crops -- particularly cypress and oak trees -- and destroy young seedlings. It can also damage or spoil ornamental plants, citrus, grapes and fruit trees.
