Residents of Lake Osborne Heights

Dear vegetable/fruit growers and friends:

A peach fruit fly, Bactrocera zonata, was found in a trap in a guava tree in Miami-Dade County by a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector during routine surveillance activities earlier this month.

• This is the first Florida find for this species of fruit fly which is considered one of the most serious of the world’s fruit fly pests due to its potential economic harm.

• It attacks many different fruits, vegetables and nuts, including mango, guava, citrus, eggplant, tomato, apple, peach, melon, loquat, almond and fig.

• The fruit flies lay their eggs in the fruits and vegetables. In a few days, the eggs hatch and maggots render the fruits or vegetables inedible.

• The department, along with our U.S. Department of Agriculture counterparts, has launched an intensified trapping program in an 81-square-mile area surrounding the fruit fly find.

• If any more flies are found, trapping will continue, and an insecticide may be applied to telephone poles along with a substance that attracts the flies.

• The public will be notified twenty-four hours prior to the application of any insecticides or other treatment activities. Should this be necessary, additional outreach activities will be conducted as more information becomes available.

• Agricultural officials are attempting to determine the source of the fruit that carried this fly into Florida. Report any information on the possible origin of this fly to the USDA’s anti-smuggling hotline at 1-800-877-3835.

• This marks the third exotic fruit fly find in Florida this year. In June, Mediterranean fruit flies were trapped in Palm Beach County and a full-scale, three-month eradication program was conducted – one of the shortest in US history. In August, two Oriental fruit flies were found in a trap in Pinellas County – trapping continues and no additional fly has been found. This year alone, just under $7 million dollars has been spent on the Palm Beach and Pinellas county programs.

• These multiple incursions of exotic fruit flies into Florida indicated that even with our successful statewide fruit fly detection and monitoring efforts and preventive sterile fly release program, harmful pests and diseases are still being brought into the state by the traveling public.

• State and federal agriculture agencies continue to try to raise public awareness about the risks associated with moving agricultural products without proper certification. It is best to not bring any plant material in from another country to ensure no pest hitchhikers are present.

• State and federal agencies will work with local governments to keep the public involved and to provide updated and accurate information. See photos of the peach fruit fly in the Pest Alert, attached. Call FDACS/DPI Denise Feiber, APR (352) 235-0036, Mark Fagan (954) 410-4119, or your UF/IFAS county extension agent if you find a suspicious fruit fly sample.

• More information can be found at the Department’s website at http://www.fl-dpi.com/enpp/ento/exoticfruitflies.html including maps of the detection area and detailed information on the peach fruit fly. You can also call the Department’s toll-free help number at 888-397-1517.

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David Sui, Ph.D.
Vegetables & Tropical Fruits Extension
UF/IFAS - Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension
559 N. Military Trail
West Palm Beach, FL 33415-1311
(561) 233-1718 - Office
dsui@ufl.edu