The Asian citrus psyllid eradication program that was to start Monday has been postponed to Wednesday, with Carpinteria likely to be the first area treated, according to pesticide hotline personnel. The spraying with Tempo SC Ultra is timed to attack adult psyllids before they lay their eggs on the new shoots of spring, said Steve Lyle, director of public affairs for California Department of Food and Agriculture. Imidacloprid soil application will take place later this year. Residents concerned about harm to bees can opt out of the program after they are notified their trees will be sprayed.
Groups of Asian citrus psyllids have been trapped in the county in increasing numbers — though none have been infected with the huanglongbing (HLB) disease lethal to citrus — and have the potential to threaten the county's $12 million lemon industry. Available statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture give California's citrus production increasing by 6 percent in 2014. Florida's citrus production, hardest hit by HLB, declined 9 percent that year.
The Tempo spray dries about four hours after being applied, and hotline personnel claim that even fruit that has been sprayed can be washed and eaten. For bees, both of the program's poisons — Tempo's ingredient cyfluthrin, a pyrethrin insecticide, and imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid — are lethal. Further, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently issued a finding that neonicotinoids have a possible negative effect on bee colonies through pollen and nectar.