Medfly Central : Trackers Believe Infestation Is Concentrated in Reseda

A Reseda neighborhood near Sherman Way and Reseda Boulevard may be the center of the San Fernando Valley’s Mediterranean fruit fly infestation, prompting stepped-up inspections and the possibility of additional ground spraying in the area, state and county agricultural officials said Monday.

A sixth Medfly was trapped Sunday afternoon on a back-yard citrus tree in the 7300 block of Darby Place, where the fifth fly was discovered Saturday. The area is a few blocks away from where the third fly was found near Baird Avenue and Sherman Way, officials said.

“I think it is very likely that we are awfully close to the epicenter” because of the number of flies found in a relatively small area, said William Edwards, chief deputy in the Los Angeles County agricultural commissioner’s office.

If inspectors find additional flies, more of the pesticide malathion will be sprayed on the ground surrounding the trapping site to kill pupae hatching in the dirt. The ground around the Darby Place location was sprayed with pesticide over the weekend.

On July 25, five days after the discovery of two crop-destroying Medflies in Northridge, two helicopters sprayed a 16-square-mile area of Reseda and Northridge with 990 gallons of syrupy liquid laced with malathion.

Discovery of the sixth fly and speculation that Reseda is the center of the infestation will not require more aerial spraying, officials said.

The destructive Medfly is considered a danger to the state’s multimillion-dollar agriculture industry because females lay their eggs in more than 200 varieties of fruits and vegetables, which become infested with maggots and unsalable.

Agricultural inspectors were ordered Monday to canvass the Darby Place area, cutting samples of fruit from back-yard trees in search of Medfly larvae. Maggots discovered were sent to a laboratory for examination, but had not been positively identified as Medfly maggots, inspectors said.

Area residents were asked to contact county agricultural officials if they discover maggots in fruit or vegetables. Residents should wrap the infested fruit in a plastic bag and keep it in a cooler or refrigerator until an inspector can pick it up, Edwards said.

“If people find maggots, we want to know right away,” he said.

The state and county war on Medflies opens a new front today with the release of 4 million sterile male fruit flies. The sterile flies are intended to mate with produce-destroying females, preventing them from reproducing.

Additional sterile flies will be released in the Reseda neighborhood, Edwards said.

To further prevent spread of the pest, a 62-square-mile area in the Valley was placed under quarantine last week. Residents are prohibited from removing home-grown produce from the area.