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Victor Galvan, 30, of Santa Paula, holds 25 grams of immature oleander scale, a microscopic bug harvested at Associates Insectary in Santa Paula. The scale fall off squashes in the company "birthing room" where Galvan collects them, then transfers them to new squashes where they proliferate in pods. Once introduced, the Aphytis melinus wasp breeds off of them and is sold at approximately $30 for a cup of 30,000. Purchased wasps are effective in attacking red scale, a parasite that can decimate a citrus crop.

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0814_LOC_npfarmbugs30a.jpg
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K Loberg
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A Year in Ventura County Agriculture
Victor Galvan, 30, of Santa Paula, holds 25 grams of immature oleander scale, a microscopic bug harvested at Associates Insectary in Santa Paula. The scale fall off squashes in the company "birthing room" where Galvan collects them, then transfers them to new squashes where they proliferate in pods. Once introduced, the Aphytis melinus wasp breeds off of them and is sold at approximately $30 for a cup of 30,000. Purchased wasps are effective in attacking red scale, a parasite that can decimate a citrus crop.
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