Monday, December 6, 2010

Asian Fruit Fly Eradicated

On November 24, 2010, South Africa's Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reported that the Asian fruit fly, Bactrocera invadens (Diptera: Tephritidae), was eradicated from South Africa. Bactrocera invadens had been detected in a trap in May of 2010, and phytosanitary measures were immediately taken to eradicate the pest. As B. invadens has not been detected in traps for more than 12 weeks, it is now considered eradicated from South Africa.

Native to Asia, B. invadens is also known to occur in other parts of Africa. It is a pest of Citrus spp. (citrus), Solanum lycopersicum (tomato), Mangifera indica (mango), Psidium guajava (guava), Musa spp. (banana), and Annona spp. (annona). Bactrocera invadens is not known to occur in the United States. The genus Bactrocera is listed as reportable in the PEST ID database (queried 12/1/10).