2nd Pacific Mealybug Found at Cal Poly
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
A second Pacific mealybug has been found at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The rare and exotic bug earlier caused the closure of the Cal Poly horticulture unit. The second one was found on a banana plant from Florida, triggering pesticide spraying and more sampling of insects in a greenhouse.
The mealybug has never before been identified within the United States. Were it to spread, it would be a threat to California’s agriculture because it has no local predator, experts said.
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