In 1989, a sudden invasion of Mediterranean fruit flies (''

Ceratitis capitata ''Ceratitis capitata'', commonly known as the Mediterranean fruit fly or medfly, is a yellow-and-brown fly native to sub-Saharan Africa. It has no near relatives in the Western Hemisphere and is considered to be one of the most destructive frui ...

'', " medflies") appeared in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and began devastating crops. Scientists were puzzled and said that the sudden appearance of the insects "defies logic", and some speculated "biological terrorists" were responsible.Johnson, John.
Invasion by Medfly Defies Logic, Scientists Say Infestation: Experts discover peculiar patterns in the spread of the stubborn fruit fly
, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', December 30, 1989, accessed February 21, 2012. Analysis suggested that an outside hand played a role in the dense infestation. Howard, Russell D. et al. ''Homeland Security and Terrorism: Readings and Interpretations'',
Google Books
, McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006, p. 49, ().Pratt, Robert J.
Invasive Species - A Threat to the Homeland?
, USAWC Strategy Research Project, ''

U.S. Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army educational institution in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instruction to senior military officer ...

'', April 7, 2003, accessed February 21, 2012. A person or group calling itself "The Breeders" took responsibility for the bioterrorist attack, as financial retaliation for the environmental damage caused by the state's

Malathion Malathion is an organophosphate insecticide which acts as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. In the USSR, it was known as carbophos, in New Zealand and Australia as maldison and in South Africa as mercaptothion. Pesticide use Malathion is a pesti ...

aerial spraying Aerial application, or what is informally referred to as crop dusting, involves spraying crops with crop protection products from an agricultural aircraft. Planting certain types of seed are also included in aerial application. The specific sp ...

; the group's members were never identified. Subsequently, three months after "The Breeders" announced the medfly release, the state ended its decade-long Malathion program and sought alternate ways to handle destructive insects.

Background

Largely because of its sunny

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

and widespread irrigation, California is the world's fifth largest supplier of food and agriculture commodities. According to the

California Department of Food and Agriculture The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is a cabinet-level agency in the government of California. Established in 1919 by the California State Legislature and signed into law by Governor William Stephens, the Department of Food ...

, "California agriculture is nearly a $36.6 billion dollar industry that generates $100 billion in related economic activity." The state’s agricultural sales first exceeded $30 billion in 2004, Since 1975, California had seen small annual infestations of the medfly, typically ascribing their appearance to the casual shipping of fruit, and visits, between relatives and friends in California and Hawaii. Medflies breed rapidly and eat fruit with a voracious appetite. Root-Bernstein, Robert S.
Infectious Terrorism
, ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', May 1991, accessed February 19, 2012. Notably, they represent a risk to 22 crops in California, including apples, apricots, avocados, bell peppers, cherries, dates, figs, grapes, grapefruits, kiwis, limes, mandarin oranges, nectarines, olives, oranges, peaches, pears, persimmons, plums, prunes and tomatoes. Medfly infestations are not without precedent, both in California and elsewhere in North America. Between 1975 and 1993 the state of California spent more than $170 million on medfly eradication programs meant to contain 12 different infestations.Wheeler, Mark.
Fly Wars
, ''Discovery Magazine'', February 1993, accessed May 31, 2021. In 1996 the state began utilizing sterile medflies in its eradication program and between 1996 and 2007 the state experienced five infestations. A major 1981 medfly infestation cost California $40 million by itself. The 1981 infestation turned into a political crisis and led to the beginning of the state's aerial spraying program in July of that year.Anderson, Ian. "Medfly fighters win their battle the hard way",
Google Books link
, ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...

'', Vol. 95, No. 1324, p. 815, ISSN 0262-4079.Brazil, Eric. "The political stakes in the Medfly infestation", ''California Journal'', April 1981, pp. 137-39. Medflies were found in traps as late as 2007 in

Solano County Solano County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 453,491. The county seat is Fairfield. Solano County comprises the Vallejo–Fairfield, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which i ...

, California. The first medflies in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

turned up in 1929 and they have been a constant threat to the

citrus crop ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen ...

there ever since. Medfly sightings occurred in Florida in 1997 and 2010.

Attack

Beginning in 1975, when medflies were first seen in the area, California deployed small

McPhail trap Insect traps are used to monitor or directly reduce populations of insects or other arthropods, by trapping individuals and killing them. They typically use food, visual lures, chemical attractants and pheromones as bait and are installed so that ...

s to attract and capture the medflies to help measure the estimated population. In 1989, as many flies were captured as had been captured in the previous fifteen years combined. The greatest concentration of medflies were found in

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

and within a triangle linking the eastern edge of the

Los Angeles Basin The Los Angeles Basin is a sedimentary basin located in Southern California, in a region known as the Peninsular Ranges. The basin is also connected to an anomalous group of east-west trending chains of mountains collectively known as the Tr ...

with

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

and

Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Uni ...

. On December 8, 1989, the state retreated from its position that the 12 outbreaks since August each represented "isolated infestations" that could be easily eradicated after a panel of scientific advisers suggested it was not possible.Chavez, Stephanie and Simon, Richard.
State Launches New Offensive Against Medfly
, ''Los Angeles Times'', December 8, 1989, accessed February 21, 2012. It was instead ordered that, rather than 1-2

s of the infected communities, more than a dozen sprayings would be necessary over a period of months.Chavez, Stephanie and Simon, Richard.
Months-Long Spraying of Medfly Is Ordered Infestation: Officials admit underestimating the outbreak. Meantime, the malathion opposition grows.
, ''Los Angeles Times'', December 8, 1989, accessed February 21, 2012. In addition, Malathion was no longer used alone, but mixed in a 4:1 ratio with Nu-Lure0 bait to attract insects to the area.Leyva, J.

" (Memorandum), '' California Department of Pesticide Regulation'', August 16, 1995, accessed February 19, 2012. The period of infestation stretched from July 1989 through November 1990. In the years since medflies were discovered in California, an average of $26 million was spent annually to control them; but 1989's attack was estimated to have cost $60 million in eradication efforts, making 1989 the second-most expensive year in the state's program.Palo Alto Pests: The 1981 Medfly Invasion
", ''paloaltohistory.com'', accessed February 23, 2012. It is not clear whether the $60 million was the total cost, or only represented California's half of a possible $120 million cost, as half the costs were borne by the federal Department of Agriculture.

Claim of responsibility

In December 1989, a two-page letter addressing

Los Angeles Mayor The mayor of the City of Los Angeles is the official head and chief executive officer of Los Angeles. The officeholder is elected for a four-year term and is limited to serving no more than two terms. (Under the Constitution of California, all j ...

Tom Bradley was sent to the ''

'' and ''

Fresno Bee ''The Fresno Bee'' is a daily newspaper serving Fresno, California, and surrounding counties in that U.S. state's central San Joaquin Valley. It is owned by The McClatchy Company and ranks fourth in circulation among the company's newspapers. I ...

'' ostensibly from an " ecoterrorist organization" calling itself "The Breeders"."Medfly letter puts blame on mystery group, ''

San Jose Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidiar ...

'', December 5, 1989. The Breeders claimed that it was responsible for the summer release of the medflies as retaliation for the environmental damage caused by the

by the state.Bonfante, Jordan.
Medfly Madness
, ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

'', January 8, 1990, accessed December 25, 2008. It also threatened to expand its medfly infestation into the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...

. The letters claimed that officials would have noticed an uptick in medfly numbers around March 1989. The group promised to make the aerial spraying program politically and financially impossible through the coordinated release of thousands of medflies. As early as December 1989 the group's claim was taken seriously.Carus, Seth - Counterproliferation Research, National Defense University, ''Bioterrorism and Biocrimes: The Illicit Use of biological Agents Since 1900'',
Google Books link
, The Minerva Group, Inc., 2002, p. 173, (). Initially, the letter was dismissed as "some crank trying to get a lot of publicity", but there was evidence the group played a role in the infestation. Certain characteristics of the 1989 medfly infestation led investigators to the conclusion that someone was responsible for deliberately releasing medflies.Howitt, Arnold M. and Pangi, Robyn L. ''Countering Terrorism: Dimensions of Preparedness'',
Google Books link
, MIT Press, 2003, pp. 202-03, (). The dense medfly population coupled with the low number of medfly larvae found in the infested areas left

entomologists Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

baffled as to how the infestation could be completely natural.Chronology of CBW Incidents Targeting Agriculture 1915-2008
", James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies, ''

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

'', March 2009, accessed February 19, 2012. The writer of the letter, and any members of the alleged group, were never identified. Drogin, Bob.
High school mixes algebra, homeland security
, ''Los Angeles Times'', June 10, 2009, accessed February 21, 2012.

Response

The

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

became involved in the investigation and the letters were turned over to the

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

's Criminal Conspiracy Section. During the course of the investigation, the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

attempted to contact ''The Breeders'' through a classified ad placed in the ''

''. The ad stated: "Breeders if you're for real send one of your little friends. We want to talk. Call John at USDA." In response to the threat, California State Senator Ruben S. Ayala introduced the bill ''SB1754'' in the Senate Agriculture and Water Resources Committee to make it a felony for any person to import Mediterranean fruit flies into the state,"Panel OKS Bill Making Medfly Import Felony",
login required
, ''

'', March 7, 1990, accessed February 23, 2012. rather than the misdemeanor it already was. The bill included prison sentences ranging from 16 months to three years, and fines up to $10,000."3 Pest Bills Pass AG Committee",
login required
, ''Fresno Bee'', May 15, 1990, accessed February 23, 2012. Senator Ayala's proposal became law June 22, 1990, and added Section 6306 to the Food and Agriculture Code. In the year following the attack, there were seizures of postal shipments which sought to intercept medfly larvae. In addition, 61,731 passengers and 2,430 cargo shipments were searched entering through airports, but no larvae were discovered. There were five "intensive searches" of cargo and baggage as it arrived at Los Angeles Airport and

San Francisco Airport San Francisco International Airport is an international airport in an unincorporated area of San Mateo County, south of Downtown San Francisco. It has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe, the Middle E ...

that tested positive for medfly larvae. After its repeated sprayings failed to eradicate the medfly threat, California halted its Malathion aerial spraying program in March 1990, three months after the threat from The Breeders was received. The state instead opted to try the voluntary introduction of millions of radiation-sterilized medflies to interrupt the reproductive cycle and control the population.Dunn, Ashley.
State Gambles That Sterile Flies Can Do the Job: Medfly: Agriculture officials are about to attempt a tactical shift in the battle, replacing the aerial spraying of malathion
, ''Los Angeles Times'', May 16, 1990, accessed February 23, 2012. Later,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

reported that a similar attack with a corn or soybean pest could devastate their agriculture industry.The threat of agricultural terrorism
South Dakota Department of Agriculture In May 2001, Mark Urlaub, the Department of Agriculture's biosecurity program director, announced that investigators were "taking another look at" the 1989 attack.Caruba, Alan.
A New Terrorism Comes of Age
, ''Conservative Monitor'', May 2001, accessed February 23, 2012.

Background

Attack

Claim of responsibility

Response

See also

References

Further reading