Fruit Flies Prompt State Officials to Declare Fruit Quarantine in Cerritos-Artesia

State agriculture officials today declared a fruit quarantine for the Cerritos-Artesia area in Los Angeles County following the detection of oriental fruit flies. 

Also included in the quarantine was the Anaheim area in Orange County. The entire 130-square-mile quarantine zone also includes parts of Buena Park, Cypress and Stanton, reaching south to Westminster Boulevard, north to Florence Avenue, west to Paramount Boulevard, and to the east to Anaheim Boulevard, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

"Our system to detect invasive species like the oriental fruit fly is working well and according to design," said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. "The key is to respond quickly and take action before the pests can spread."

Multiple adult flies and larvae have been detected on properties in the quarantine zone, according to the state agency.

Flies Pose Threat to Local Fruits and Vegetables

The flies, native to Southern Asia, burrow into 230 kinds of fruits and vegetables to lay eggs, which hatch into maggots that spoil the food.

The CDFA uses a technique in which trained workers apply a small patch of male fly attractant, mixed with a "very small" dose of pesticide on trees and similar surfaces that are eight to 10 feet off the ground. Male flies are attracted the mixture and die after consuming it, thereby slowing the reproduction rate, a department spokesman said.

The workers are focusing on several square miles surrounding the sites where the flies were trapped. Maps of the treatment areas are available online at www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/go/FFmaps-peps .

Additional measures on or near properties where flies are detected include removal of host fruits and vegetables, fruit cutting to detect any fly larvae that may be present and treatment of host trees and plants with an organic-approved material called spinosad, according to the CDFA.

What Can Residents Do?

To prevent the spread of the flies, people are urged not to move fruit or vegetables grown in the area outside the quarantine zone.

What Does the Fruit Fly Look Like?

According to the CDFA, the adult oriental fruit fly is somewhat larger than a housefly, about 8 mm in length. The body color is generally bright yellow with a dark "T" shaped marking on the abdomen. The wings are clear. 

The female has a pointed slender ovipositor to deposit eggs under the skin of host fruit. Eggs are minute cylinders laid in batches. The maggots (larvae) are creamy-white, legless, and may attain a length of 10 mm inside host fruit.

- City News Service contributed to a portion of this report.