The Region - News from Sept. 10, 1986

Two crop-destroying Oriental fruit flies have been found near the Los Angeles International Airport and county officials warned the find could signal a “budding infestation.” The adult male fruit flies were found Friday in an almond tree in a backyard in Westchester, said Bill Edwards, a spokesman for the county Department of Agriculture and Weights and Measures. “We’re sure more are out there,” Edwards said. “We probably won’t get all of them and that could mean mating would start right away. Then you’d have a second generation.” Stepped-up trapping in a nine-square mile area surrounding the recent finds will begin today. County workers plan to use a pesticide-laced sex attractant -- methyl eugenol--to eradicate the pest. The Oriental fruit fly has infested Los Angeles County more than a dozen times since 1966.