Medfly Found in Trap in Los Alamitos

A Mediterranean fruit fly has been trapped in Los Alamitos, triggering an intensive trapping effort but no immediate need for a quarantine or pesticide spraying, state officials said Monday.

The male adult fly was found Friday in a trap in an orange tree in a back yard on Green Avenue. It is the first Medfly to be found in Orange County since August, 1990. The last one in Southern California was found on Dec. 6, in Los Angeles, where three males were trapped.

State agricultural officials said they have added 100 traps to the mile-square area around the find. Pesticide spraying will only occur if more flies are trapped over a wider area, they said.