Mango Fruit Fly

Bactrocera dorsalis

high risk
insect

Overview

One of the most economically important fruit pests in the world, the Oriental Fruit Fly attacks over 100 species of fruit across tropical and subtropical Asia and Africa. It is a primary quarantine pest that restricts international trade in mangoes, guavas, and other tropical fruits from affected countries.

Adult is 7–8 mm, distinctive with a bright yellow thorax with two dark lateral stripes, reddish-brown abdomen, and clear wings with a characteristic brown costal band. Larvae are white maggots 8–10 mm found inside rotting fruit.

Prevention Strategies

  • •Orchard sanitation — collect and destroy fallen fruit daily
  • •Harvest fruit at early ripe stage before population pressure peaks
  • •Bag individual fruits during development in small-scale orchards
  • •Set up methyl eugenol + malathion male annihilation technique (MAT) traps
  • •Avoid planting mixed fruiting species that extend season for flies

Control Methods

  • •Male annihilation technique (MAT) — methyl eugenol lure with toxicant
  • •Protein bait sprays (GF-120 spinosad bait) applied to foliage
  • •Sterile insect technique (SIT) used in area-wide management programs
  • •Post-harvest treatment of export fruit: methyl bromide fumigation or heat treatment
  • •Biological control using Fopius arisanus parasitic wasp

Interesting Facts

  • •Males that consume methyl eugenol become more attractive to females — the compound gets incorporated into their courtship pheromone
  • •A single female can lay 1,500 eggs in her lifetime
  • •Its invasion of Africa was first confirmed in Kenya in 2003 and it has since spread to over 30 African countries
  • •Hawaii conducted the first successful SIT eradication campaign against this species in the 1990s