Foreign Insects and Diseases Slipped into US
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An Asian long-horned beetle in its adult stage, front, and as a larva at the state Department of Resources and Economic Development Division of Forest and Lands office in Hillsboro, N.H. (AP2009)
A photo provided by California Department of Food and Agriculture, shows a light brown apple moth, which is native to Australia. The number of border inspections and pest detections plummeted for several years, weakening the country's protections against foreign bugs and costing the nation's $1 trillion farming industry more than any U.S. terror incident since 9/11. (AP)
A light brown apple moth, which is native to Australia. (AP2007)
Agriculture specialist Mark Murphy, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, examines bags of rice during an inspection in Oakland, Calif.
Agriculture specialist John Machado, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, uses a knife to sift through an opened bag of rice during an inspection in Oakland, Calif.
A photo made Tuesday Aug. 23, 2011, shows agriculture specialists John Machado, left, and Mark Murphy, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, inspecting bags of rice in Oakland, Calif. Dozens of foreign insects and plant diseases slipped undetected into the United States in the years after 9/11, when authorities were so focused on preventing another attack that they overlooked a pest explosion that threatened the quality of the nations food supply. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Agriculture specialist John Machado, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, spots a wooden crate that a pest had bore into at bottom right, during an inspection in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday Aug. 23, 2011. (AP)
An agriculture specialist with U.S. Customs and Border Protection seals a bag of rice he opened during an inspection in Oakland, Calif. on Tuesday Aug. 23, 2011.
A photo taken Tuesday Aug. 23, 2011, shows agriculture specialist John Machado with U.S. Customs and Border Protection sifting through an opened bag of rice during an inspection in Oakland, Calif. (AP)
Janice Knepp, of Monterey, left, and Charlotte Bertram, of Sausalito, right, joined other activists in protesting the spraying for the light brown apple moth during a rally held at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. (AP)