plant pests and diseases. Coop- 
erative efforts have eradicated 
witchweed, a parasitic plant that 
attacks corn and other crops, from 
more than 98 percent of the 
Originally infested area in North and 
South Carolina. PPQ efforts against 
the gypsy moth focus on stopping 
the artificial spread of this tree- 
destroying caterpillar when outdoor 
household items are moved from 
infested areas. To find better and 
more effective ways of controlling 
rangeland grasshoppers in the 
Great Plains and Intermountain 
West, PPQ headed a 5-year 
integrated pest management, or 
IPM, project. 
Boll weevils, the long-time scourge 
of cotton producers, have been 
eliminated from Virginia, the 
Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, south 
Alabama, California, and Arizona 
through a combination of pesti- 
cides, attractants, and cultural 
methods. Programs now underway 
in Alabama, Tennessee, Missis- 
sippi, and Texas are also making 
good progress against the weevil. 
Other plant pests or invasive 
species that PPQ is working to 
manage or eradicate include the 
Mexican fruit fly in the lower Rio 
Grande Valley in Texas, grasshop- 
pers and Mormon crickets, several 
honeybee pests, noxious weeds, 
and pink bollworm. PPQ becomes 
involved with new insects or plant 
diseases that present an economic 
threat to American agriculture or a 
threat to the natural environment. 
PPQ employees and cooperators mapped 
Arizona wheat fields contaminated by the 
fungus that causes Karnal bunt. 
15 
