Usda

The Mediterranean fruit fly, widely known as the medfly, may be tiny — slightly smaller than a common housefly — but it carries enormous weight. It is widely regarded as one of the world’s most destructive fruit pests. The medfly damages citrus and other fruits by planting eggs that hatch inside the fruit, and it reproduces rapidly: a female medfly can lay as many as 800 eggs during a lifetime of less than a month. The species originated in sub-Saharan Africa and is not established in the United States, except in Hawaii, which has been infested for nearly a century. The first U.S. mainland infestation was reported in Florida in 1929. Several infestations have been reported since then, especially in recent years, but intensive detection and eradication programs, notably in California, are believed to have prevented the pest from becoming permanently established.

The medfly is viewed as a serious threat to California’s agricultural sector and general economy. California, the world’s fifth largest agricultural economy, produces more than $13 billion worth of fruits and vegetables annually. Medfly infestation threatens that production, and an infestation would particularly hinder…