Tiny squirming thing on a backyard tree? There’s an app to ID that

You can take a picture with your mobile device and send it directly to the state for evaluation; and there’s even an option for GPS coordinates of the find, just in case a rapid response is necessary. The CDFA has gone high tech and tech smart in introducing the “Report a Pest” mobile app, according to the agency’s Office of Public Affairs.

In connection with national Invasive Plant Pest and April’s Disease Species Awareness Month, CDFA is making the new mobile app available for Californians interested in helping to keep an eye out for invasive species. The app is called “Report a Pest,” and it enables people to take photos of a suspected invasive insect or plant and send them to CDFA for evaluation. 

The app includes an option for GPS coordinates of the find, just in case a rapid response is necessary. And in the case of Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), a rapid response might just save the state’s citrus industry. 

The pest - the size of a grain of rice - could carry a citrus greening disease, Huanglongbing. Known as HLB, the disease can kill infected trees within a few years and has already destroyed much of the Florida citrus industry. There is no cure for HLB.