Oriental Fruit Flies Found in W. Hollywood

Three crop-threatening Oriental fruit flies have been trapped in West Hollywood, prompting agricultural officials to begin eradication measures involving spot pesticide applications on utility poles and trees.

In a prepared statement, County Agriculture Commissioner Leon Spaugy said Monday that a mature male fly was trapped in a fig tree on Huntley Drive in West Hollywood on Oct. 10. Two days later, two more mature flies were trapped in a grapefruit tree on North Croft Avenue.

Additional traps have been placed in the square-mile area surrounding the finds.

The announcement comes less than two weeks after officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that the local Oriental fruit fly infestation had been eradicated.

State and federal officials have been battling the crop-destroying pest since August, 1989, when a fly was discovered near West Covina.

The eradication measures involve spot bait applications to vertical surfaces such as utility poles and trees.

This procedure, called “male annihilation” because it uses a lure with a pesticide to kill the male fly on contact, has been used to eradicate previous California infestations of the pest.

The Oriental fruit fly is known to devour 236 varieties of fruits, nuts and vegetables.

Spaugy was attending a meeting with officials of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly Project on Monday and was not available for comment.

An unmated Mediterranean fruit fly, which poses a more serious agricultural threat than the Oriental fruit fly, was found Oct. 1 in a fruit tree in Riverside, the first find of the pest in Southern California in two months.

Aerial spraying of the pesticide malathion to combat the Medfly across Southern California lasted more than a year, generating a public outcry, before it ended July 23.

Despite the anti-malathion protests, state agricultural officials have said they will resume the aerial spraying if a new Medfly infestation breaks out.