What do they look like?
The Queensland fruit fly is native to Australia and occurs throughout Queensland and NSW. It is reddish-brown with yellow markings, slightly larger than a housefly. Ripening fruit is its favoured target, so fruit that is picked green is usually not affected. The adult female lays her eggs under the skin of the fruit in clumps of 6-12.

What do they do?
Eggs take 1-2 days to hatch into white maggots in ripening fruit. These maggots feed in the fruit for 7-12 days and then drop to the ground and pupate. The pupae are 5mm long, elongated and brown. The adult fruit fly emerges from the pupae after 10-14 days. The whole life cycle takes 4 weeks under ideal environmental conditions. Cool dry conditions can cause the life cycle to be extended past 4 weeks. Most fruit and vegetables are susceptible to fruit fly when fruit begins to ripen.

Can we live with them?
No

How are they controlled?
Exclusion bags made of calico or brown paper will give protection (mailorder available from www.greenharvest.com.au). Spraying with insecticides can be dangerous and is not normally necessary until about 6 weeks prior to ripening. The insecticide label should be strictly adhered to and withholding periods followed.

We have had success with using an organic product called Eco-natralure. However the way you use it is essential- some gardeners have not used it correctly and have been disappointed. Read the details below for more information.

Eco-Naturlure Traps:

These only capture the Male fruit fly and need to be used in conjunction with Eco-Naturlure. As soon as you see a male fruit fly in the trap, start using the Eco-Naturlure as directed below.

Using econaturalure:

The main thing is that the product must be applied early in the season, from August.

It is the female fruit fly that lays eggs in fruit, so the female is the one to target. Female fruit flies have a peculiar life cycle in that once they emerge from the ground they need to feed on a protein source in order to become sexually mature. After this initial feeding stage they may not feed again - they may be too busy mating and laying eggs. So it