Fruit Fly Trapping Increased in 2 Areas

A pregnant Medfly was discovered in a trap in Valinda, near La Puente, and a Mexican fruit fly has been found in Santa Clara County, prompting increased trapping in both areas, state officials said Thursday.

Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner Leon Spaugy said the Medfly was found Tuesday in a back-yard fig tree, more than 20 miles from a current Mediterranean fruit fly infestation in the Elysian Park area. The fly was sent to Sacramento where state entomologists confirmed Wednesday that it is a Medfly.

In response to the find in Valinda, agricultural officials have placed 800 additional traps in an 81-square-mile area around the community.

In Santa Clara County, an unmated female Mexican fruit fly was discovered Wednesday in a trap in an orange tree in San Jose, prompting increased trapping in that area also.

No aerial spraying of malathion is planned in either area, unless additional flies or maggot-infested fruit are reported. But ground-spraying of residential yards in Valinda will be conducted as a precaution, Spaugy said.

“We don’t draw any hasty conclusion with the single fly,” Spaugy said, adding, however, that a mated female “creates more concern because it indicates we may have a breeding population.” He views the latest find and the Medfly infestation near Dodger Stadium as independent incidents.

The Medfly poses a danger to the state’s multimillion-dollar agricultural industry because females lay their eggs in fruit and vegetables that become infested with maggots and thus unsalable. Spaugy asked residents to call his office if they find white maggots in fruit.