Not too long ago, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the California Department of Food and Agriculture and county agricultural commissioners said all populations of invasive fruit flies have been eradicated in the state.
This week, a wild mated female Mediterranean fruit fly was found in Fremont, Calif. Because of this find, a portion of Alameda County has been placed under quarantine, according to the state’s ag department. Mediterranean fruit flies can target more than 250 types of fruits and vegetables. Damage can occur when the female lays eggs inside the fruit and the eggs hats to maggots that tunnel through the fruit’s flesh.
The quarantine area in Alameda County measures approximately 71 square miles and is bordered on the north by Calif. State Route 84; on the south by the boundary between Alameda-Santa Clara counties; on the west by the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge; and on the east by Calaveras Creek. The quarantine map may be found online.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture said this new find and quarantine is separate from the recently eradicated invasive fruit fly infestations in Santa Clara, Sacramento, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties. The department said the last Medfly quarantine in Alameda County was in 1981.
The state ag department said it will release 250,000 sterile male Medflies per square mile in a 39 square-mile area around the infestation as part of eradication efforts. It also said properties within 200 meters of detection will be treated with an organic Spinosad to reduce population density. It also plans to remove fruit within 100 meters of properties with mated females, larval and multiple adult detections.
This quarantine will affect any growers, wholesalers, and retailers of susceptible fruit in the area as well as local residents, according to the department.
