US (PA): Non-native insects intercepted

Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists in Philadelphia intercepted two insect species that were never before recorded in the U.S., plus a third one that has never been recorded in the Philadelphia area. The identifications of all three were recently confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The CBP agriculture specialists intercepted Dalmochrimnus guatemalanus, a species of seed bug, in a shipment of cassava and chayotes from Costa Rica on November 7, and they also found a longhorned beetle called Stenygra setigera in a container of granite from Brazil on November 17. Neither one has ever been documented in the United States.

CBP agriculture specialists also intercepted a Chinese wax scale (Ceroplastes sinensis) in a shipment of persimmons on November 20 — the first to be reported in the Philadelphia area.

During all three interceptions, CBP submitted the insect specimens to USDA entomologists for complete identification.

Ceroplastes sinensis is a pest of commercial citrus crops in Spain. The insect has a waxy external layer that acts as a protective barrier against pesticide treatments, making pest control a difficult task. The importer fumigated the shipment of persimmons.

Source: entomologytoday.org