Eradication efforts are set to begin in parts of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills today (July 10) following the discovery of the potentially devastating Oriental Fruit Fly.
As is state protocol following the detection of these produce-plundering pests, the California Secretary of Agriculture has declared an emergency proclamation authorizing immediate implementation of an eradication program, according to a Santa Clara County Public Affairs press release. State officials today are scheduled to begin affixing special species-specific pheromone flytraps to light poles and public trees within a 14-mile radius of the detection site. The treatment area is roughly bounded by Alma Street (in Palo Alto) to the north, Miramonte Avenue (Mountain View) on the east, Ravensbury Avenue (Los Altos Hills) to the south and La Cresta Drive (Los Altos Hills) to the west.
The first of two Oriental Fruit Flies were detected by California Department of Food and Agriculture officials June 29 in a residential neighborhood northeast of the Interstate 280 and El Monte Avenue interchange. A second specimen was dispatched to the office of the state’s head entomologist last week, and officials have identified it as another Oriental Fruit Fly, said Michelle Thom, deputy agricultural commissioner with the Santa Clara County Division of Agriculture.
Each treatment to eradicate the insects will take two to three days to complete and state officials will repeat applications every two weeks for approximately eight weeks, according to the press release. The lures attract and kill male Oriental Fruit Flies, Thom said, enabling them from mating with females and reproducing,
Female Oriental Fruit Flies lay eggs in fruits and vegetables and their maggot offspring feed on the produce, causing it to decay and fall from the tree, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. They are indiscriminate insects and have been known to attack more than 230 types of produce.
The species is widespread through much of the mainland of Southern Asia and typically arrives in the United States through contraband fruit transported by international mail and airplane passengers, Thom said.
