Bay Area farmers and gardeners, be warned. The rapacious Bagrada bug is here. And it's going to be particularly hard on organic farmers.
The invasive species of bug first landed in California in 2008 and has since steadily made its way north, arriving in Redwood City this year and flourishing in the Santa Clara County farmlands.
With a stinky body that makes it no meal for a bird and with a way of laying eggs in soil that makes it impervious to wasps, there are few predators for this penny-sized menace -- and plenty of broccoli, arugula, cabbage, and other greens for it to eat, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
The bug does not appear to like lettuce and spinach, which is good news to growers in the Salinas Valley, but nonetheless could cause "millions" of dollars' worth of damage to the state's $43.5 billion agricultural industry.
And the only way to get rid of it? Spray, baby, spray: the bug can be killed with insecticides but that won't be much use to natural farmers, whose only line of defense may be to cover the small seedlings upon which the bugs feast before they can suck a new plant dry of water.
Experts say that it's pests like this darn bug that are the biggest threat to California's farm industry. The California drought? A distant No. 2.
Other pests like the Medfly appear to be here to stay. Efforts by the farm industry to eradicate them have failed.
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Cold winters appear to be the best way to reduce the bug's population. So in addition to rain, farmers may be praying for frost, too.
