Fruit Fly Eradication Program Underway

State and county agricultural officials have started an eradication program to eliminate Oriental fruit flies, two of which were found recently in North Hollywood.

The program, which consists of putting a form of repellent on utility poles and tree trunks over a 10-square-mile area, is routine, said Kevin Herglotz, spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, who called the process a “government-issued roach motel.”

The repellent is made up of methyl eugenol (an attractant to the male fruit fly) and Naled (an insecticide). Officials set up about 600 traps per square mile and will repeat the treatments every two weeks for minimum of four treatments.

The bugs were spotted in a trapping routinely checked for fruit flies, Herglotz said.

The Oriental fruit fly, commonly found in Southeast Asia and most Pacific islands, can damage citrus, avocados, tomatoes and peppers, Herglotz said. The fruit flies lay eggs, and maggots form inside the fruit and cause it to rot.

The treatment boundaries are Saticoy Street on the north, North Hollywood Way on the east, Camarillo Street on the south and Coldwater Canyon on the west.

It is not known where the two flies came from, Herglotz said.

“One of our biggest problems is that fruit flies are brought in unknowingly by travelers entering California from another country,” he said.

Area residents are urged not to transport their backyard fruit until after the eradication program is finished, Herglotz said.