LOCAL : Parts of Burbank, Glendale Sprayed to Wipe Out Oriental Fruit Flies

The discovery of three Oriental fruit flies has prompted ground spraying of the pesticide Dibrom in a nine-square-mile area of Burbank and Glendale, Los Angeles County officials said today.

The treatment area encompasses an 8 1/2-square-mile area of Burbank bounded by Empire Avenue on the north, the Ventura Freeway on the south, Hollywood Way on the west, and Kenneth Road to Western Avenue on the east, said Bob Atkins, Los Angeles County deputy agricultural commissioner. The Western Avenue portion includes a half-mile-area of west Glendale, Atkins said.

The spraying began Saturday, a day after the discovery, and will continue over the next several weeks, Atkins said.

The Oriental fruit fly attacks more than 230 different fruits and vegetables, including apples, avocados and bananas. Although it poses as serious a threat to agriculture as the Mediterranean fruit fly, Atkins said, the Oriental fruit fly is much easier to eradicate. He said the sex lure methyl eugenol, used to attract male flies to the pesticide Dibrom, is much more effective than the bait used to attract the Medfly.