Pink mealy bug may be in Belize

Belize City is under quarantine after the Ministry of Agriculture discovered what they suspect may be the Pink Hibiscus Mealy Bug. While officials stress they have not yet received official confirmation that the bugs discovered in Buttonwood Bay and Bella Vista are indeed the P.H.M.B., they are taking a number of precautions. Within the next two weeks biological agents in the form of wasps and beetles will arrive to help destroy the bug, but in the meantime, Ministry personnel will canvas the affected neighborhoods to assist with the removal of hibiscus plants from gardens and backyards. Checkpoints are also being established at mile six on the Western Highway and mile ten on the Northern Highway to stop all vegetables and plants from leaving the city. The pink mealy bug does not limit its destruction to hibiscus and is known to attack more than two hundred varieties of plants including citrus and avocado trees, vegetables and ornamental trees and plants. Adult P.H.M.B. females are pink, oval shaped, have no wings and are between one to three millimeters long. To identify the pests, you can look for white cotton-like masses or blackened plants. Orlando Sosa from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Mayor of Belize City David Fonseca will be on the radio tomorrow morning to discuss how the pink mealy bug could affect Belizean agriculture and the hibiscus eradication program. A video on the impact of the bug elsewhere in the Caribbean is also being produced by the Government.