Pasadena

County agriculture officials are setting traps in the West San Gabriel Valley after last week’s discovery of a female melon fly in a peach tree here. The melon fly--a cousin to the Mediterranean and Oriental fruit flies--is believed to have come from Hawaii and could be bad news for the state’s $1-billion-a-year agriculture industry because it attacks both fruits and vegetables.

Officials have baited about 1,000 traps in hopes of catching any other melon flies that might be in the area, said John Manning, chief deputy agricultural commissioner. Authorities are asking anyone who finds white maggots on home-grown fruits and vegetables to call the county’s fruit fly hot line (818) 350-1929 or (818) 575-5471.