B4o—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 14,1981
Medflies aren’t new pest
WASHINGTON, D.C.
The Mediterranean
fruit fly, commonly
known as the Medfly,
may be causing a
commotion in
California, but the fact
is—the little winged bug
is nothing new. It was
first found in West
Africa in the early 1800 s,
reports National
Wildlife Federation, and
since then has spread
throughout most of the
world.
Not a traveler by
nature—the insect can
fly only a mile or so on
its own—the medfly’s
extensive excursions
could only have taken
place with the help of
people. Hitching rides
with man as he crossed
continents, the pest has
reached all parts of the
globe, except Canada,
most of Asia, and the
arctic zones
The National Wildlife
Federation explains
that despite quaran
tines, sterilization
campaigns, and in
secticide spraying, the
Medfly’s cream-colored
larvae, or maggots,
continue to destroy the
insides of more than 250
kinds of fruit and
vegetables, including
apples, apricots, most
citrus, coffee berries,
mangoes, nectarines,
peaches, plums, and
tomatoes.
How can one tiny
insect smaller than a
housefly cause so much
havoc? The Medtly
makes up in
reproduction powers
what it lacks in size.
And the hotter the
climate, the faster it
procreates. In sunny
Hawaii it produces 12 or
13 generations a year.
About a week after
they become mature,
male Medflies gather in
groups on host fruits or
nearby leaves. Females
are attracted by the
male’s scent and
characteristic buzz.
After mating the female
uses her sharp-pointed
ovipositor, or egg-laying
apparatus, to puncture
the skin of a just
npenmg fruit, and she
deposits about a dozen
whitish glistening eggs
in the hole she made. A
single Medfly female in
the wild can lay up to 500
eggs during her adult
reproductive lifetime of
about a month.
Her eggs hatch after a
day or two and the soft
bodied larvae feed on
the fruit, which fall to
the ground prematurely
and rot. After a week or
two, the mature lar
vae—now about one
third of an inch long
crawl out. Each one
burrows into the soil and
forms a brown, seedlike
pupa. After about nine
days, it emerges as a fly
to begin the cycle again.
How is this prolific
and damaging pest
controlled? In most
Mediterranean coun
tries it isn't. The pest is
simply too widespread,
and some nations report
up to 100 percent in
festation of soft fruits
and a few vegetables.
Australia, however,
has fought a winning
Medfly, which is con
fined to the southwest
corner of the country. In
Adelaide, the capital of
South Australia,
residents have been
trained to recognize the
rather pretty fly with its
yellow abdomen and
brown bands on its two
clear, drooping wings,
and they report
sightings immediately.
Tins method of early
detection has helped
eradicate the fly each
tune it has appeared.
Another method of
early detection involves
setting up traps which
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DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED.
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look like cardboard pup
tents. The traps are
baited with a sex lure
which attracts the flies.
The insects are then
captured inside the trap
by a sticky substance on
the tent’s floor.
Both Israel and
California spray an
insecticide-plus-bait to
combat the Medfly. The
protein bait attracts the
flies, which are then
killed by the insecticide,
usually malathion.
Other weapons used
against the Medfly
include stripping of host
fruits, release of sterile
VERNON MYERS, INC.
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flies, and biological
control by 1 means of
parasites.
Malathion, the most
effective tool loi
combating large Medfly
outbreaks, is regarded
by most scientists as a
safe pesticide, but as
Jorge Manring, a
toxicologist with the
National Wildlife
Federation explains, “If
it’s economically
possible, we always
prefer to avoid use of
any pesticide. Perhaps
it’s time we considered
such land use
techniques as alter
nating acres of fruit
with other crops. That
way you set up a
biological barrier to
both the Medfly and
other damaging in
sects.”
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