1.

This Cooperative Agreement award of $400,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025) supports the California Department of Food and Agriculture's (CDFA) Asian Defoliating Moth (ADM) survey program. The program will deploy a network of pest traps across California from June through September to detect the presence of five invasive moth species that pose a threat to a wide variety of trees and shrubs. The 46 County Agricultural Commissioner's offices will place and service the traps, submit specimens for identification, and distribute outreach materials. This surveillance effort aims to enable early detection and response to any introductions of these pests, which are primarily associated with commercial cargo shipments from Asia. Negative survey results would indicate that these invasive moth species have not yet been established in California.

Purpose

The asian defoliating moth (ADM) survey will look for the presence of five serious pests of a wide variety of trees and shrubs. The survey will be achieved through maintaining a trapping network throughout the state. The target pests that this program will focus on are the flighted spongy moth (FSM), lymantria dispar asiatica; spongy moth (SM), lymantria dispar dispar; rosy moth, lymantria mathura; NUN moth, lymantria monacha; and siberian silk moth, dendrolimus sibiricus. This survey is in alignment with the mission of aphis and would allow for early detection of these pests and the ability to respond to incipient infestations. 2.

Activities

Paper delta traps, wing trap kits, and milk carton traps and their lures will be placed throughout the state of california from june through september. Trap sites will be selected at high-risk seaports and urban settings over 55 counties and serviced every two weeks. New infestations will be delimited. This statewide trapping program is outlined in the cdfa insect trapping guide. The gypsy moth action plan and the USDA's asian defoliator pathway-based survey guide and program manual, among other documents, will be used to form the basis of the survey. Trappers will be trained in trap placement, preliminary identification of targeted pests, and proper sample submission procedures. Suspect samples will be submitted for confirmation to the plant pest diagnostics center (PPDC). Following the confirmation of a spongy moth, the specimen will be sent to the USDA's science and technology lab in otis, massachusetts for confirmation of its mitotype (asian or european) through molecular diagnostics. 3. Deliverables and expected outcomes: the survey methods described in this document target likely introduction points. Targeting the survey on those areas that have the greatest risk for introduction should allow for a reasonable expectation for the detection of introductions of these pests. Therefore, this survey should find evidence of these pests if they have been introduced. A tabulation of the number of traps deployed, the number of sites sampled, and the number of samples submitted can be used to determine if the survey efforts were sufficient. Negative survey results would indicate that these pests have not been introduced nor established in california. 4. Intended beneficiary(IES): california's trapping program for spongy moth targets areas where species are likely to be introduced by vehicle traffic from the eastern U.S. The state will benefit by having a complementary program that specifically targets those areas of highest risk for the introduction of FSM and its relatives via seaports. Detections of FSM have occurred at and around ports in the northwestern U.S., and in all cases, introductions were associated with commercial shipments primarily from the far east (asia and russia). The amount of cargo arriving at ports in california continues to increase, thus increasing the risk of introduction of these pests. 5. Subrecipient activities, if known or specified at the time of award: 46 county agricultural commissioner's (CAC) offices will place and service traps, provide survey site information, submit specimens for identification, and distribute outreach material (see attachment B).