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Managing Fruit Flies In Your Orchard

If you grow fruit of almost any variety, you can be sure that Fruit flies will be hanging around. These small pests can multiply rapidly and without careful management will quickly do significant damage to your garden fruit trees. Taking swift, consistent action is the key to managing this pest.

Why are Fruit flies such a problem?

Fruit flies are among the most commonly found agricultural pest. In South Africa, the Natal fruit fly, Mediterranean fruit fly and Mango fruit fly are the biggest problem and are found on a wide range of cultivated trees, crops and plants as well as wild plant hosts.

These pests cause extensive damage, in part because they are so hard to control due to their biology and lifecycle. Look out for Fruit flies now, as they are highly active during the South African summer.

Damage begins when the female Fruit fly punctures the skin of ripe or ripening fruit and lays her eggs underneath it – but it is the larvae that cause the real damage. Once hatched, the larvae feed on the fruit, tunnelling to the centre of the fruit and causing it to rot and fall.

By the time you notice a Fruit fly infestation in your garden, it’s already likely to be too late, which is why it’s essential to carefully monitor for their presence and to implement an integrated pest management programme from early in the season.

Managing Fruit flies the easy way

  • An integrated, responsible pest management approach should be followed in order to specifically target Fruit flies. Prevention is the best cure and the first step is to scout and monitor for Fruit flies early in the warmer months of the year while Fruit fly levels are still low. All fallen and injured fruit should also be removed from your garden every week.
  • Don’t wait for fruit to ripen. The most important time to monitor and manage Fruit flies in your orchard is two weeks before the fruit ripens or before the fruit colour breaks.
  • Use pheromones: Many female insects attract mates over long distances by using scented pheromones. Insect Science’s PheroLure®️ range manufactures pheromones to mimic this natural process, attracting the male insect pests and trapping them before they can mate and start a new generation.
  • The new Insect Science Fruit Fly ToolkitTM is designed to attract and trap male Fruit flies in horticultural crops, home gardens, ornamental plants, vines, subtropical crops and nursery plants. The ToolkitTM includes an E.G.O. PheroLure®, which contains female pheromones to attract males, break the breeding cycle and reduce the number of Fruit fly larvae feasting on your garden fruit trees.
  • The ToolkitTM also includes a McPhail Trap and, once attracted by the PheroLure®,   male flies enter through the hole of the inverted funnel base in the trap. Once inside, they are trapped and killed by the gas of an insecticide block.

The sustainable approach

Insect Science® follows a responsible approach to sustainable integrated pest management (IPM) that focuses on achieving more with less. As the chemical composition of pheromones differs from species to species, each Insect Science PheroLure® product attracts a specific pest, avoiding pest immunity or resistance.

Registration Holder:

Insect Science (Pty) Ltd (Reg. No. 2000/022528/07)

Private Bag X 4019, PostNet Suite 378, Tzaneen 0850

Tel +27 (0)15 307 1391

www.insectscience.co.za

E.G.O. Pherolure® Reg. No.: L10981, Act No 36 of 1947

Active Ingredients: Enriched ginger oil – 2 ml/lure

Find out more and buy the Fruit Fly ToolkitTM at www.shop.insectscience.co.za or check Facebook, Instagram and YouTube @InsectScience.

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The Gardener