The Kern County, Calif., melon fruit fly information meeting location and time has been changed.

Kern County Agricultural Commissioner Ruben Arroyo said the meeting will be held Wednesday as scheduled, but will now be held from 10 a.m. until noon at the David Head Center, 10300 San Diego St., Lamont, Calif. It was originally scheduled for the UC Cooperative Extension service offices Wednesday evening.

In Lamont, Arroyo and representatives from the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the USDA will discuss the pest and outline quarantine regulations.

Alana Wild, CDFA, and Nancy Holland, deputy director, Kern County Department of Agricultural will outline the impact of the pest find on exported agricultural commodities. The state and federal government agencies have initiated a 4.5-mile quarantine buffer zone in Kern County around an area where five melon fruit flies (MFF) Bactrocera cucurbitae were discovered on Aug. 9 southeast of Bakersfield.

The finds in an agricultural production area called Meridian south of Lamont indicate an incipient infestation of this serious agricultural pest, according to CDFA.

MFF feeds on more than 100 different host plant species. Kern County growers produce several of the fly’s favorite hosts; including apple, peach, cantaloupe, citrus, pepper, tomato, and watermelon.