- About the Mexican
Fruit Fly - What Does the
Mexican Fruit Fly
Look Like? - What is the Mexican
Fruit Fly's Life Cycle? - What Kind of Damage Can the Mexican Fruit
Fly Cause? - What Could That
Damage Mean to the Economy? - What's the Mexican
Fruit Fly Quarantine? - Where is the Mexican Fruit Fly Found
in California? - What Can We Do?
- Resources List
About the Mexican Fruit Fly
The Mexican fruit fly is a serious pest of various fruits, particularly citrus and mango. Mexican fruit fly was first described in Central Mexico in 1863 and by the early 1950s, flies were found along the California-Mexico border. The pest has since been detected in Arizona, California and Texas.
A large number of commercially grown crops in California, including peach, avocado, orange, grapefruit and pear, would be threatened if the Mexican fruit fly became established. Adult flies have been discovered and eradicated successfully in California numerous times, with the first eradication occurring in 1954 in San Diego County. There are no current treatment or quarantine areas for Mexican fruit fly in California.
What Does the Mexican Fruit Fly Look Like?
The adult Mexican fruit fly is larger than a house fly. The body is a pale orange-yellow color with two to three whitish stripes along the thorax. The wings are clear with several yellow and brown stripes. The female is distinguished by a long and slender ovipositor, which is used to deposit eggs beneath the skin of the host fruit. The larvae are legless and range in color from white to yellowish-white, and grow to a length of 0.4 or 2/5 inches within the host fruit.
What is the Mexican Fruit Fly’s Life Cycle?
The adult female flies lay eggs singly or in groups of up to 18. A female may lay several thousand eggs in her lifetime. Larvae develop within the fruit, feeding on the pulp. Development is temperature-dependant: slower development occurs in cooler weather and faster development occurs in warmer weather. At maturity, the larvae leave the fruit and burrow into the soil to pupate. Adults emerge from the soil and usually require from eight to 34 days to mature prior to egg laying. Breeding is continuous, with four to six generations each year under optimum conditions.
What Kind of Damage Can the Mexican Fruit Fly Cause?
Fruit that has been attacked by the Mexican fruit fly is unfit to eat. The larvae feed while tunneling through the interior of infested fruits. Microscopic organisms then invade these injured areas, causing internal decay of the fleshy portions of the fruit.
People may unknowingly transport infested fruit because the infestation cannot always be found through visual inspection. More than 50 host plants have been recorded as “favorites” of this pest. The host list includes:
- Apple
- Apricot
- Avocado
- Citrus, except sour lime
- Guava
- Most lemons
- Mango
- Nectarine
- Orange
- Passion fruit
- Peach
- Pear
- Persimmon
- Plum
- Pomegranate
What Could That Damage Mean to the Economy?
The Mexican fruit fly is an extremely destructive pest and would threaten the production, sale and export of many fruit crops in California if it were allowed to become established.
It would devastate commercial agriculture and make it more difficult and expensive to grow fruit and vegetables in your own yard. Consumers would pay more for fruits and vegetables due to higher production costs and reduced yields. Mexican fruit fly could cost consumers an additional $124 million per year in increased production costs.
What’s the Mexican Fruit Fly Quarantine and Eradication Process?
Detection, survey and eradication campaigns are conducted when new invasions are detected.
If an infestation is detected, Federal and State officials impose an agricultural quarantine on all Mexican fruit fly host fruit. All potential host fruit must be inspected and treated before it can be moved out of the quarantine zone. Open-air fruit and vegetable stands within a regulated area must provide protective covers for produce to prevent it from becoming infested.
Once the pest is contained within an area, eradication can begin. Three kinds of treatments are used: bait spray, the sterile insect technique (SIT) and/or directed insecticide applications, with an emphasis on the use of SIT.
Where is the Mexican Fruit Fly Found in California?
There are no current treatment or quarantine areas for Mexican fruit fly in California.
What Can We Do?
Do not bring or mail fresh fruits, vegetables, or plants into California unless agricultural inspectors have cleared them beforehand, as the Mexican fruit fly and other pests can hide in a variety of produce. Never remove fresh produce from your property when your area is under MFF quarantine.
It’s also important to cooperate with any quarantine restrictions or rules that might be imposed because of a MFF find in your area, and allow authorized agricultural workers access to your property to inspect fruit and MFF traps for signs of an infestation.
Resource List [not a comprehensive list]
Mexican Fruit Fly Pest Profile
California Department of Food and Agriculture
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdep/target_pest_disease_profiles/
mexican_ff_profile.html
Fruit Flies, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/fruit_flies/
Fruit Fly Control Programs
United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/ea/fruitfly.shtml
Pest Tracker: Mexican Fruit Fly
National Agricultural Pest Information System
http://pest.ceris.purdue.edu/searchmap.php?selectName=IOBMABA
