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San Diego

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Agriculture officials have set up more than 200 traps around the Mira Mesa area after an adult male melon fly was found, the county Department of Agriculture said.

Considered a serious threat to tomato and melon crops, the fly was found Wednesday near commercial fields, said Kathleen Thuner, agricultural commissioner.

It was only the third time since 1956 that a melon fly has been found in California. The other two flies were found in Los Angeles County.

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The reddish-yellow fly is indigenous to India, southeastern Asia, the Mariana Islands and the Hawaiian Islands. Thuner said the fly probably made its way to San Diego via contraband fruit from Hawaii.

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