Compton Will Be Sprayed for Mexfly

In the midst of Southern California’s largest Mediterranean fruit fly infestation, agriculture officials announced that a new outbreak of the pest’s dangerous cousin, the Mexican fruit fly, has forced the expansion of aerial spraying in Compton and will probably require spraying in the San Diego County community of El Cajon.

State Director of Food and Agriculture Henry Voss on Thursday ordered Compton sprayed three times with malathion, followed by the release of millions of sterile flies to breed the pest out of existence.

A five-member panel of state scientific advisers on Thursday recommended that El Cajon follow suit, said Gary A. Reece, a San Diego County agricultural official. Voss is expected to make a final decision today, Reece said.

“It’s a very difficult decision to make because obviously an aerial spraying of malathion is a controversial decision,” Reece said.

In El Cajon, the Mexfly outbreak has spread over about 16 square miles. Aerial spraying, which would be the first ever for San Diego County, is tentatively scheduled to begin May 21.

The Compton infestation covers roughly 20 square miles, but half that area already is being sprayed with malathion to eradicate the Medfly and will require no extra treatment.

The new round of aerial spraying comes as agriculture officials are struggling to wind down the massive nine-month pesticide campaign they have waged against the Medfly in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

By the end of May, agriculture officials are hoping to phase out pesticide treatment of all but 48 square miles of infested territory--if no new Medflies are found.

Isi Siddiqui, the state agriculture official in charge of the Medfly campaign, said the new Mexfly discoveries will complicate the current eradication program. But he added, “If this area stays small, I don’t expect any big problems. It should be easy to handle.”

The Mexfly discoveries have all come in the last 1 1/2 months.

In El Cajon, the pests were trapped within a quarter-mile of each other in a residential area. One mature male and two egg-bearing mature females have been trapped since April 25.

Scientists agreed that although isolated trappings of Mexflies are not uncommon in San Diego County, the discovery of three of the pests in such a small area was cause for concern.

The Compton infestation was declared after the discovery of two flies, the first on May 3 in an orange tree off West School Street, and the other on May 8 in a loquat tree about an eighth of a mile away.

Two other Mexican fruit flies also have been trapped in East Los Angeles this year, but because they were found inside an existing Medfly spray zone, no further treatment was ordered.

After the Mediterranean fruit fly, Mexflies are considered the next most dangerous pest to the state’s agriculture.

The Mexfly attacks more than 40 types of fruit, primarily citrus and stone fruits, such as peaches and apricots. The Mediterranean fruit fly is known to attack about 250 types of fruit, nuts and vegetables.