CAMARILLO : Medfly Spraying Planned Wednesday

With a favorable weather forecast and light winds predicted, state officials are planning to go forward Wednesday with their spraying to eradicate the Medfly in the Camarillo area.

If all goes as planned, the aerial assault, set to start at 9 p.m., will be the first spraying since Feb. 15, said Doug Hendrix, spokesman for the Cooperative Medfly Project. Since then, two scheduled sprays have been called off because of wind and rain.

But the cool temperatures that accompanied the rain have aided the eradication effort because the fruit flies do not breed successfully in cold weather, Hendrix said. “We haven’t found a Medfly since Nov. 21,” he said.

The spraying is scheduled to last for as long as two complete life cycles of the fly, which would mean that spraying could continue until the end of April, Hendrix said.