1-800-781-PEST (7378)
When you say the word pest what comes to mind? Probably, cockroaches, bugs or rodents around your house or yard, right? But anyone in the agriculture business will tell you there are hundreds of pests that attack food sources that you probably have never heard of.
With modern day pesticides and the internet, farmers have a great advantage over farmers just a few decades ago. Whenever a particular type of pest is spotted and identified, the information is quickly reported to the Florida Department of Agriculture who then publishes it on their website. Farmers and cultivators from all over the state check this database.
If you check it today you will see a list of pdf files of the type of pest that was reported, where it was reported and in what quantity. An example from the site this month would be something called a bean pod borer moth. It is a major pest of legumes (beans and sprouts). And the pods were collected in Big Pine Key. This is the first time they have been spotted there since 1992.
Another report has a lychee erinose mite being spotted in two different areas of Lee County. This report was filed back in March. This mite damages the leaves on fruit plants and can eventually kill the plant. It is so small it must be identified with a microscope. They are usually only identified after the damage has begun to occur.
If this type of information affects your industry then you are probably already well aware of this website. But, if you are interested in the information as a curiosity it is a good idea to bookmark the page and check back often. The site offers botany reports, entomology reports, as well as method manuals. Africanized honey bees, slugs, lovebugs, exotic mealbugs, and the neotropical longhorn beetle are among some of the hundreds of pests identified on this site. Check it out.
