Recently, a exotic beetle was intercepted at the Port of San Diego by customs agents. This beetle, Gymnetis Pantherina, has been known to feed upon more than 300 types of crops.
The larvae of this beetle destroys the roots systems of plants which has a large impact on the growth and yield of the plants.
http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-san-diego/destructive-beetle-intercepted-at-san-diego-port
After the discovery of this insect, the shipper was given the option to either treat the bananas to kill any insects, or send the shipment back. In this case the shipper decided to treat the bananas.
This is how many of our current invasive species have made their way into the United States. Hopefully customs gets better at intercepting exotic insects before they can hop off the boat into our fields and ecosystems.
hum....wonder what they treated the banana's with???
ReplyDelete~Michele
Yea, I was wondering too...it probably isn't a huge deal since we don't eat banana peels, but this is a good reminder to always wash produce after you buy it!
ReplyDelete