Termite Inspection Orange County Termite Terry Pest Control

Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, South Orange County, Long Beach Area

“Is Your O.J. In Trouble?”

    The $9 billion citrus industry in Florida is facing its biggest threat yet; the Asian citrus psyllid. This tiny mottled brown insect, about the size of an aphid, feeds on all varieties of citrus and experts say that if a solution isn’t found, Florida’s entire citrus industry could collapse. Florida currently produces about 80 percent of the orange juice in the U.S.

    Asian citrus psyllids feed on new leaf growth. This feeding twists and curls young leaves and kills or burns back new shoots. Even more serious is that this insect is a vector of the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, associated with the fatal citrus disease huanglongbing (HLB), also known as citrus greening disease.

    HLB can kill a citrus tree in as little as five years and there is no known cure. At this time, the only way to protect trees is to prevent the spread of the HLB pathogen by controlling psyllid populations and by removing and destroying any infected trees.

    Psyllids are not native to Florida and experts believe they arrived from someone who may have unknowingly brought a slip of a tree from Asia. They were first discovered in the U.S. in June of 1998 at a home in Palm Beach County, Florida. They have since spread to Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Arizona, California and Hawaii.

    The Asian citrus psyllid is also threatening California growers who raise the majority of the U.S.’s fresh citrus crop. This pest is widely distributed throughout Southern California and is likely to spread into the Central Coast and the Central Valley.

    $90 million has been spent in Florida since 2008 on greening research and much of that money is raised from a tax they pay on every box of citrus that is picked. The Federal Farm Bill of 2014 has included another $125 million for greening research.