Bugs Crossing the Border
Be on the lookout for any suspicious insects invading your garden, farm, or forest. Inspectors from the U.S. Customs and Border Inspection recently stopped five destructive insect species from entering the U.S. One of the border crossers was a clover leaf weevil found in a shipment of pineapples coming from Costa Rica. CBP’s Steve Sapp, however, claims that an even more dangerous pests was found in a container of melons coming from Costa Rica. This was apparently the first time the nation has intercepted this insect species, a type of long-horned beetle. This is a worrying occurrence because long-horn beetles cause a lot of destruction to trees.
Four other species were also the first to be seen by U.S. Customs, causing quite a stir for the CBP. These insects can cause severe damage to trees and the lumber industry as well as crops around the country. If these pests enter the country completely and begin to spread, we are then looking at daunting and costly task of eradicating them, as well as recovering and re-establishing any crops they manage to destroy.
Have you seen any insects you are not familiar with? Have you reported these incidents?
