Sterile Medflies Can’t Read Those ‘Wet Paint’ Warnings

The arrival of hundreds of millions of sterile Medflies may be cause for celebration for most Southern Californians, but don’t try telling that to Martin O’Connor or Annette Dodge.

These two Whittier residents have heard all about the stained cars, upset children and possible allergic reactions caused by malathion. But for them, it is the sterile Medflies--the supposed relief from malathion--that are the real trouble.

O’Connor and Dodge, who do not know each other, each have filed financial claims with the state. They contend their homes were attacked by rampaging sterile flies that stuck themselves to their freshly painted walls.

The proof, they say, can be seen in all its speckled glory in walls that are still dotted with hundreds of dead flies--not quite the paint job they had in mind.

It was a January afternoon, just after agriculture workers had through his neighborhood as part of a limited release of sterile Medflies in selected areas, when O’Connor first noticed the problem. He was putting a fresh coat of paint on his house.

“I looked up and, God in heaven, those flies were coming at us by the thousands, just sticking to the house. All over the place. . . . The smell must’ve just attracted them,” said the 68-year-old O’Connor, who is retired.

“And you know, those doggone things stayed on there alive for four days, still squirming around--you can’t get rid of them.”

O’Connor said he sanded down the spotted walls and started painting anew--only to have the same thing happen the next time the sterile release crews came around. It wasn’t as bad the second time, he said, but the flies still dot the place, and he is seeking $800 from the state to fix the problem.

Dodge, meanwhile, wants $1,840 to cover the cost of repainting her dining room walls--which she says are a vertical graveyard to hundreds of sterile Medflies after her misadventure in November.

“They’re all still there, stuck to the enamel,” Dodge said.

A bit suspicious at first, state agriculture inspector Arturo Castillo went to the Whittier homes to look at the reported damage--only to find that the flies do indeed appear to have been attracted by the fresh paint.

“The flies had just attached themselves,” he reported.