Mexican Fruit Fly
Anastrepha ludens, also known as Mexican fruit flies, pose a more severe threat to agriculture than the common North American fruit fly. Although the Mexican fruit fly is found most commonly in Central America, populations have begun to spread north through the American South and California. The Mexican fruit fly is attracted to all citrus, particularly mango and grapefruit crops. For this reason, Mexican fruit flies are especially destructive in Florida. These flies are larger than common fruit flies, measuring between three and five millimeters in length. Their bodies are slender and yellow-brown in color.
Like other fly species, the Mexican fruit fly develops through egg, larval and pupal stages before emerging as an adult. Fertilized females seek fruit within which to lay their eggs, ensuring an ample and easily accessible food supply. In ideal, subtropical temperatures, eggs hatch within six days. Upon hatching, they consume the host fruit and in doing so, take on the fruit's coloration. This makes Mexican fruit fly larvae extremely difficult to see. Larval development occurs within three to four weeks.
Agricultural regions employ large-scale, sophisticated measures such as the Sterile Insect Technique to control populations of Mexican fruit flies once they have been detected. Within homes, all affected fruit should be disposed of and some insecticide sprays may be utilized to control adult fruit fly populations.