science

Light brown apple moth controversy

Light brown apple moth controversy is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Light brown apple moth controversy rather than just read about it. In short: The light brown apple moth (Epiphyas postvittana, often abbreviated to LBAM) is a leafroller moth belonging to the lepidopteran family Tortricidae. The moth was confirmed to be present in mainland United States in 2007, principally along the West Coast.

Key takeaways

Light brown apple moth controversy belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
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Reproduce the core statement of Light brown apple moth controversy from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The light brown apple moth (Epiphyas postvittana, often abbreviated to LBAM) is a leafroller moth belonging to the lepidopteran family Tortricidae. The moth was confirmed to be present in mainland United States in 2007, principally along the West Coast. The State of California and the US Department of Agriculture quickly imposed agricultural quarantine measures and decided to use aerial spraying to try to eradicate the moth. This led to substantial public controversy and claims of adverse health effects. Aerial spraying was discontinued in 2008. Trapping, monitoring, and inspection efforts were reduced or eliminated in 2012 due to budget problems.

Light brown apple moth The insect is regarded as an herbivorous generalist, and the larvae consume numerous plant crops in Australia and New Zealand. The species is native to Australia and is found in New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Hawaii. The moth has been classified as a noxious insect in the United States and Canada, but not in Europe. This resulted in restrictions on importing and exporting produce from infested areas between the US, Mexico, and Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

History The first light brown apple moth to be confirmed in California by DNA analysis was found in February 2007. James Carey, a professor of entomology at the University of California-Davis, believes, based on his previous experience with the gypsy moth program and its geographic spread at the time of identification, that the light brown apple moth had likely been in California for many years before that. In early 2007, the state decided to eradicate the moth. This decision may have been prompted in part by quarantine measures imposed by Canada and Mexico on California's produce. At the time, some experts thought that eradication was feasible, and others did not. The potential losses related to lost and damaged crops, if the moth spread unchecked throughout the state, was estimated to be above US $600 million ($930 million after adjusting for inflation). The California Department of Food and Agriculture issued a State Interior Quarantine order restricting intrastate shipment of plant material from counties where LBAM had been found. The US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service later issued a Federal Domestic Quarantine order on May 2, 2007, with restrictions on interstate shipment of plant material. CDFA officials, together with the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, initiated what they described as an emergency eradication program, including domestic and international quarantines and inspection programs. Although a pesticide cannot be legally used if it has not been registered by EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs in accordance with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the EPA has the ability to approve emergency exemptions (under Section 18 of FIFRA) for unregistered uses of pesticides for limited time periods, if the EPA determines that emergency conditions exist and the request meets EPA safety requirements. The EPA granted the quarantine exemption request from the USDA. The amount of active ingredient applied was less than one ounce per acre (about one-eighth of a drop per square meter). The Monterey County Weekly, in October 2007, reported that according to CDFA spokesman Jay Van Rein, the first two aerial applications over the Monterey Peninsula cost $3.7 million, with $3.1 million of that used to buy the spray products. The November 2007 application was described as costing $2.7 million. In 2012, during a budget crunch, the state cut funding for the pest control program, including for agricultural inspections.

Eradication measures

In late 2007, the California moth eradication program controversially included aerial spraying of a product containing sex pheromones that attract LBAM males over sixty square miles near the Pacific coast between Monterey and Santa Cruz. The US Environmental Protection Agency authorized the aerial spraying of the pheromone spray every 30 days until 2010. The ingredients of LBAM-F were published on the CDFA website in 2007. In June 2008, the State of California announced that it was abandoning plans for aerial spraying over population centers. In December 2015, a California appeals court ruled against the LBAM pesticide program on the grounds that it violated state environmental laws by not sufficiently considering less harmful alternatives.

Adverse health claims After the spraying in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties in the fall of 2007, 453 complaints of adverse health effects in humans were reported. An analysis of all of these reports was published by the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) in April 2008. Most of these were self-reports posted on websites; 44 (10%) were reports from healthcare providers. More than half of the reports were from residents of Monterey County. Less than 25% of the reports included the date and place, and almost none of the complaints posted on websites contained all of the information needed to evaluate the complaint. The report said "Our most significant conclusion is that we were unable to link the reported symptoms with exposure to the pheromone formulation". Of the 74 people who said they sought medical assistance, most reported asthma exacerbations or non-specific respiratory symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath, runny nose, or wheezing. The symptoms reported, such as irritated eyes, wheezing, or headaches, were similar to those experienced by 15–25% of adults in California each week. The rate of reported symptoms was 0.12% of people per application (less than one-hundredth the normal rate). Since the reported symptoms are very common, it was impossible to determine whether any individual's symptoms were related to the spray. Critics such as Assemblymember John Laird were disappointed by the report.

Efficacy debate and proposed solutions

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Light brown apple moth controversy

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Light brown apple moth controversy claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Light brown apple moth controversy before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Light brown apple moth controversy ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Light brown apple moth controversy

In research: Light brown apple moth controversy appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Light brown apple moth controversy in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Light brown apple moth controversy is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Agricultural pest insects, Agriculture in California, Archipini, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Light brown apple moth controversy outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Light brown apple moth controversy in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Light brown apple moth controversy means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Light brown apple moth controversy out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Light brown apple moth controversy in simple terms?

Why does Light brown apple moth controversy matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Light brown apple moth controversy?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Light brown apple moth controversy.