Fruit flies under discussion at UC Riverside

Seventh Annual Exotic Fruit Fly Symposium to examine eradication, control, and genetic engineering of fruit flies

The symposium is the premier international workshop for scientific exchange concerning fruit flies that threaten agriculture in California and other states. The focus of this year's symposium is to review fruit fly issues in California and other states, discuss eradication and control strategies, and consider the latest findings in genetic engineering as applied to fruit flies. Attention will also be paid to traps and attractants and to post-harvest technologies.

The three-day symposium has already attracted much interest, sparked by the recent proposal by California state officials of setting up a quarantine in San Bernardino County after evidence was found in Rancho Cucamonga of an oriental fruit fly infestation that could damage fruit and vegetable crops. Interest in the symposium has been generated, too, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's proposed rule to allow the importation of Spanish clementines, triggering concerns of the entry and establishment of invasive plant pests like the Mediterranean fruit fly.

The symposium has two parts:
(1) The Research Meeting will take place from Sunday afternoon through Tuesday morning, Sept. 15-17, at the Holiday Inn in Riverside, 3400 Market Street.
(2) The public is invited to an informational session at the University of California, Riverside Extension Center, 1200 University Avenue, at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17 (registration is $25 per person; $35 at the door). UC Riverside's Chancellor France C�rdova will welcome the attendees at the Extension Center. The luncheon keynote address by Assemblyman David Kelley will focus on policy issues related to exotic pests.

Now in its seventh year, the symposium is co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the Citrus Research Board, the Florida Department of Agriculture, and the University of California Center for Invasive Species Research, which is headquartered at UC Riverside.

For more information on registration and other details about the conference, contact Carol Lerner, 909-787-5089 or at [email protected].

The University of California, Riverside offers undergraduate and graduate education to nearly 15,000 students and has a projected enrollment of 21,000 students by 2010. It is the fastest growing and most ethnically diverse campus of the preeminent ten-campus University of California system, the largest public research university system in the world. The picturesque 1,200-acre campus is located at the foot of the Box Springs Mountains near downtown Riverside in Southern California. More information about UC Riverside is available at www.ucr.edu or by calling 909-787-5185.