BALTIMORE— U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists at the port of Baltimore discovered that a shipment of rice from Pakistan was infested with Khapra Beetle larvae on Wednesday. The CBP agriculture specialists did not find any live larvae but immediately collected specimens of the dead larvae and sealed the container.
The specimens were forwarded to a U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologist who confirmed them as Trogoderma granarium, commonly known as Khapra Beetle. The importer was issued an Emergency Action Notice requiring the 1,066 carton, 43,000 pound shipment of rice to be re-exported or destroyed. The importer chose to have the shipment re-exported.
CBP agriculture specialists discover 40 dead Khapra Beetle larvae on Pakistan rice.
The Khapra Beetle is considered one of the world’s most destructive insect pests of grains, cereals and stored foods and remains the only insect in which CBP takes regulatory action against even while in a dead state.
“Khapra Beetle is one of the most invasive insects CBP agriculture specialists encounter,” said Dianna Bowman, CBP Area Port Director for Baltimore. “And we take our mission to intercept these destructive pests and protect America’s agricultural industry very seriously.”
The Khapra Beetle is labeled a ‘dirty feeder’ because it damages more grain than it consumes, and because it contaminates grain with body parts and hairs. These contaminants may cause gastrointestinal irritation in adults and especially sickens infants. Khapra Beetles can also tolerate insecticides and fumigants, and can survive for long periods of time without food.
According to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, previous infestations of Khapra Beetle have resulted in massive, long term-control and eradication efforts at great cost to the American taxpayer.
California implemented extensive eradication measures following a Khapra Beetle infestation discovered there in 1953. The effort was deemed successful, but at a cost of approximately $11 million. Calculated in today’s dollars, that would be about $90 million.
CBP agriculture specialists have extensive training and experience in the biological sciences and agricultural inspection. On a typical day nationally, they inspect almost 1 million people as well as air and sea cargo imported to the United States and intercept 4,379 prohibited meat, plant materials or animal products, including 440 insect pests.
To learn more about CBP agriculture protection mission, please visit Protecting Agriculture on the CBP website.