Car Week means thousands of visitors and vehicles arriving in Monterey County, which poses well-known challenges to public safety and traffic. But officials in the Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner's Office want people to be alert for another potential danger lurking: the introduction of invasive pests.
"It takes only one insect or a single egg mass to start a new infestation that can have long-term consequences to our county," Assistant Agricultural Commissioner Rich Ordonez said during a County of Monterey media briefing on Aug. 5.
He is urging visitors to take a few minutes to check their cars (including the wheel wells) and trailers to look for spongy moths and spotted lanternflies in particular, which can do serious damage on agricultural crops, urban landscapes and forests. The spongy moth is particularly good at hitchhiking, Ordonez said, and the caterpillars feed on the leaves of more than 300 types of plants, including oak trees.
During Car Week in 2023, the pest detection team trapped a single adult spongy moth near Carmel Valley Village, Ordonez said, triggering a two-year-long project that involved placing traps throughout the area to determine whether the pest was established.
The answer was no—the single moth, suspected to have arrived on a visitor's trailer, was captured, and no other spongy moths were discovered. "We are confident the pest did not become established," he said.
Now the Ag Commissioner's Office is urging visitors to look for the insects and remove them from vehicles and trailers before visiting Monterey County.
If someone discovers an egg mass, Ordonez recommends scraping it into a sealed bag with rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizer or soapy water to kill them. If you observe an egg, caterpillar, nymph or adult stage on your belongings, call the Ag Commissioner's Office at (831) 759-7325 to report it immediately.
"A few minutes of inspection and cleaning can make a huge difference," Ordonez said.
The images below show features to look for to help identify a spotted lanternfly or spongy moth in various stages of their lifecycles.
The images above show various life cycle stages of the spotted lanternfly. At the far left are egg masses, which might resemble mud caked onto a surface. At center is is a nymph. At the far right is an adult. "It is a colorful but highly destructive pest," Assistant Agricultural Commissioner Rich Ordonez said.
These images show the spongy moth in various stages. An egg mass is at the left; the caterpillar, recognizable for its red and blue spots, is in the center; an adult moth is at the right.
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