AMERICAN SAMOA |
Monday, 14 January 2013 09:44 | ||||
American Samoa is a 200 km² U.S. dependency made up of four islands. Population was 63000 in 1999. Fruit fly surveillance in American Samoa was first initiated in 1985, with the assistance from University of Hawaii, but discontinued in 1986. Four species were detected during that period. Short term snap shot trapping in July, 1996 confirmed that the same four species were still present. With the assistance from the Project on Regional Management of Fruit Flies in the Pacific, quarantine surveillance has resumed by setting up permanent trapping sites on the three islands in July, 1998. Fruit fly project activities are jointly executed by the American Samoa Department of Agriculture (Ms. Elisapeta Sualevai) and the American Samoa Community College Land Grant Program (Mr. Lloyd Ali). Trapped fly samples and sampled fruits collected during host fruit surveys are processed and stored in the Land Grant Program entomology laboratory. For further information, contact:
American Samoa Department of Agriculture website: http://www.government.as/agriculture.htm FRUIT FLY SPECIES: There are four species: B. xanthodes, B. kirki, B. distincta and the non-economic B. obscura.
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF FRUIT FLIES: Pacific fruit fly (B. xanthodes) infests 62% of ripe breadfruits.
STATUS OF QUARANTINE SURVEILLANCE (as of October, 2007): There are 8 trapping sites, each with one Cue-lure and one methyl eugenol trap, all on Tutuila island. Regularly sampled fruits for research and quarantine surveillance are avocado, banana, breadfruit, guava, mango, papaya, and also noni (Morinda citrifolia). All trapping and host fruit survey data are compiled on Excel spreadsheets. There are fruit fly posters at the airport and the wharf, as well as quarantine bins at the airport. A quarantine awareness program is being developed as television and radio shows and presentation for farmers and students at College of Micronesia.
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