MEDITERRANEAN FRUIT FLY (MF): Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) Order - Diptera : Family - Tephritidae

DISTRIBUTION: Africa, southern Europe, Middle East, western Australia, portions of Central and South America, Hawaii, and Venice. MF has been eradicated from several counties in CA (areas of Los Angels County have repeatedly been targeted since 1975). This fruit fly has been eradicated from FL on three previous occasions and once from Texas.

DESCRIPTION: The 1 mm long egg (Fig 3) is smooth, shiny white, very slender and curved. The 11-segmented larva (Fig 4) is a legless maggot, creamy white in color, and may grow to a length of 8 mm. MFF larva is pointed at the head end. The pupa [Fig 5 - male (brown) and female (white)] is a cylindrical 11-segmented capsule, reddish brown at maturity.

The adult MF (Figs 1 and 2) is slightly smaller than a housefly with an average length of 3.5-5.0 mm. The adult has a predominantly dark body with two white bands on the yellowish abdomen. The wings have brown, yellow, black, and white markings. The female has a pointed, slender ovipositor (Fig 2 – ovipositing female).

HOSTS: Over 200 types of fruits and vegetables. Although it may be a major pest of citrus, often it is a more serious pest of some deciduous fruits, such as peach, pear, and apple.

DAMAGE: Feeding larvae reduces interior of fruit to a rotten mass. Egg punctures admit decay organisms.

INSPECTION TIPS: Check prematurely dropped fruit and fruit with softened, darkened, broken down areas, distorted in appearance. Cut fruit and inspect. Look for egg punctures that may be surrounded by liquid droplets or ringed by small craters. Pheromone traps are available to detect MF.

LIFE CYCLE: ♀ MF lays eggs in groups of 1-6 within the fruit, and as many as 1,200 eggs in her lifetime (average 30 days but may live 6 months). She prefers soft spots or sites where eggs have already been laid. MFs can fly short distances but winds may carry them a mile or more. The larvae tunnel through the fruit feeding on the pulp, shed their skins twice, and emerges through exit holes in 7-14 days. The mature larvae drop from the fruit and burrow beneath the soil to pupate. In 8-46 days, the adults emerge from the puparia. The newly emerged adults require from 4-10 days to mature to egg laying. Breeding is continuous, with several annual generations. Under optimum conditions the entire life cycle may be completed in 30 days, but requires longer intervals at lower temperatures.

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