Sterile Mexican fruit flies will be released in Escondido starting today after the County Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures found five immature females that had not yet mated at two locations in that city.
“The sterile fruit fly release program works,” said Agricultural Commissioner Bob Atkins. “This method has been used successfully to eradicate many fruit fly infestations in California since the technique was developed in the 1980s.”
The sterile insect technique works by flooding the environment with large numbers of sterile flies that will mate with “wild” flies. Any eggs laid will be infertile, eventually eradicating any infestation.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture will partner with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to release five million sterile Mexican fruit flies each week by plane each over approximately nine square miles around the infested sites. The program will continue through next spring. Sterile flies are marked with a dye colorant so agriculture officials can detect wild flies from sterile ones. Because the insects will be released over such a wide area, residents should not notice an increase in the number of flies.
The Mexican fruit fly is one of the most destructive pests in the world. Mexican fruit flies attack over 50 different crops, including many locally grown products such as grapefruits, oranges, peaches, pears, apricots, nectarines and plums.
The female Mexican fruit fly can lay up to 18 eggs in a host fruit and may lay several thousand eggs during its lifetime. The larva burrow through the fruit, making it inedible, and when the infested fruit drops to the ground, the larva move into the soil where they mature into adult flies. The adult Mexican fruit fly is slightly larger than a housefly with patterns on the wings.
Homeowners and people traveling through Escondido should not remove backyard fruits and vegetables from the area because the produce may be infested. The public can report suspicious flies to the CDFA PEST HOTLINE at 1-800-491-1899 or 619-698-1046. Residents with fruit trees can request a fruit fly trap to be placed on their property by calling 1-800-300-TRAP (8727).
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