Larvae pest found in pineapple shipment sent to Port of Gulfport last month
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agriculture Specialist announced today they discovered a butterfly larvae pest, known as the Saunders 1850, while inspecting a container of pineapples from Costa Rica at the Port of Gulfport last month.
The larvae were discovered while conducting inspections at the port on Wednesday, September 2nd.
The USDA positively identified the larvae as Saunders 1850, which is known to feed on many plants and is common in the Amazonian tropical rainforest.
Due to the potential impact to agriculture, the shipment of pineapples, worth $15,000, was destroyed.
