February 2009 Volume 4, Issue 2 334 Via Vera Cruz, Suite 152 San Marcos, CA. 92078 Phone: 760-752-4715 E-Mail: [email protected] Don’t miss the SAF Annual Pest Management Conference Feb 19-21, San Jose, Ca. For more information see the following web site http://www.saf now.org/conten t/category/12/ 53/359 Tipu Psyllid James A. Bethke UCCE San Diego County, Floriculture & Nursery Farm Advisor 760-752-4715 Floriculture & Nursery News & Notes Things Found in the Mail I know you have heard about those people that have tried to smuggle the darnedest things through customs like drugs, birds strapped to their legs, lizards in their sleeves, fish in specially constructed aprons with pouches to hold water- filled bags, etc. Smuggling of that nature is prosecutable. Well so is trying to get plants and animals into or across the country via mail. There are many examples o plant or plant part smuggling but here are a few interesting ones that I gleaned from the CDFA A&Q pest interception reports. On November 24, 2008 San Bernardino County dog team intercepted a package of awa roots ( Piper methysticum) from a private shipper in Hawaii. San Bernardino County talked to the shipper and discovered that the awa roots were intended to be used as an offering at a temple. The shipper scraped the bark and took the roots to the USDA inspection station at the Hilo Airport where they were issued a “released” stamp, certifying them for entry into California. San Bernardino County inspected the shipment and found scale insects on the areas of the bark that hadn't been scraped, near where the branches came off the main trunks. The scales were an A- rated mining scale ( Howardia biclavis ). The shipment was destroyed. On June 10, the San Bernardino County Canine Inspection Team, working at the Ontario Airport intercepted three boxes of Florida lychee/litchi (Litchi chinensis ) from a private shipper. The lychees were infested with a Q-rated beetle (Scarabaeidae Family) and Q-rated weevil ( Myllocerus spp. ). The shipment was destroyed. SAN DIEGO’s OWN DOG New and Invasive Pests On October 6 2008, a private soil and plant lab contacted Orange County for help identifying an insect pest. The sample was taken from an ornamental tipu tree (Tipuana tipu) in Carlsbad, San Diego County. The sample was sent to CDFA where it was identified as Q-rated tipu psyllid ( Platycoryphza sp.). This is the first record of the tipu psyllid in California. Entomologists Nick Nisson (Orange County) and David Kellum (San Diego County) are currently surveying to collect an official sample. The tipu psyllid causes honeydew and sooty mold damage to its host, the tipu tree. The tipu tree is commonly used as a landscape tree in Southern California.