County to Start Sterile Mexfly Release Today
Los Angeles County agricultural officials said sterile Mexican fruit fly releases will begin today in the Maywood and Huntington Park areas in an effort to eradicate the crop-destroying pests.
Twenty million sterile Mexflies per week will be released within the approximately 26-square-mile area, until the flies breed through at least three generations. Five million of those flies will be released by ground in the five-square-mile core area of the infestation, and the balance of the sterile insects will be released by air.
The sterile flies mate with wild flies but produce no offspring, eventually eradicating the infestation. Ground application of malathion bait, used to reduce the wild fly population, will be halted before the release of the sterile flies.
The jagged boundaries of the aerial release area are: Florence Avenue, State Street, Firestone Boulevard, Paramount Boulevard, the Santa Ana Freeway, Washington Boulevard, Downey Road, Bandini Boulevard, 38th Street, 41st Street, San Pedro Street, Vernon Avenue, Broadway, Gage Avenue and Avalon Boulevard.
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