May 5, 2008 12:19 pm US/Pacific
Non-Spray Method Used To Fight S. Bay Apple Moth
SAN JOSE (CBS 5 / BCN) ―
The California Department of Food and Agriculture was applying pheromone-laced twist ties to a 27 square-mile area of northwest Santa Clara County Monday as part of the state's efforts to combat the light brown apple moth.
The pheromone on the twist tie is designed to disrupt the moth's mating cycle by confusing male moths and making them unable to locate females. The pheromone is specifically targeted to the light brown apple moth and is not harmful to other organisms, according to the department.
Twist ties were being applied in Cupertino, San Jose and Sunnyvale.
In Cupertino, the ties were being applied in an area around De Anza
College and south of Interstate Highway 280 in the area of Stelling Road and Greenleaf Drive.
In San Jose the ties were being applied in an area east of Lawrence Expressway and north of Interstate Highway 280 and in the area just south and west of Samuel Rogers Middle School.
In Sunnyvale the ties were being applied to an area bordered by Fremont Avenue, Pauline Drive, Carlisle Way and Dunnocy Way. They are also being applied to an area around the intersection of El Camino Real and S. Sunnyvale Avenue.
A total of 45 light brown apple moths have been found in Santa Clara County, according to state agriculture officials.
The moth, a native of Australia, was first detected in California in early 2007. It feeds off of, and can seriously damage, more than 250 species of plants, including most of California's agricultural crops.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
