CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Stingless Wasp Joins Whitefly War

Agricultural crews are releasing tiny stingless wasps in Southern California this week as a weapon against the ash whitefly parasite, the state Department of Food and Agriculture said. Pesticides are ineffective and the fly has no known natural enemy in California. The speck-sized wasp is the first biological weapon to be used against the ash whitefly in California, where it was first detected in Los Angeles County in August, 1988. This week’s releases are in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, where the infestations are most intense.