Source: Radio New Zealand
An Oriental fruit fly on a piece of fruit. Supplied / Biosecurity NZ
A biosecurity operation is under way in the Auckland suburb of Papatoetoe following the discovery of a single male Oriental fruit fly in a surveillance trap.
Biosecurity New Zealand commissioner North Mike Inglis said the fruit fly was identified on Wednesday evening.
“We will be ramping up trapping and inspections in Papatoetoe. As a precautionary measure, Biosecurity New Zealand will put in place legal restrictions on the movement of fruit and vegetables out of the area where the fruit fly has been found.
“Over the next 24 hours, we will issue details about these controls and the exact areas affected,” he said.
In the meantime, it was important that people who lived and worked in the suburb not take any whole fresh fruit and vegetables out of their property.
Biosecurity staff would be out on Thursday providing the local community with information, Inglis said.
Biosecurity’s most recent eradication was a single male Queensland fruit fly in Mount Roskill, which wrapped up last week after six weeks of intensive fruit fly trapping and the inspection of more than 230 kilograms of fruit.
“The Oriental fruit fly find in Papatoetoe is unrelated to the Queensland fruit fly in Mt Roskill,” Inglis said.
The fruit fly poses no human health risk, but there would be an economic cost to the horticulture industry if it were allowed to establish here. Adult flies lay eggs into fruit, where the maggots feed and cause the fruit to rot.
A single male Oriental fruit fly has been discovered in a surveillance trap in Papatoetoe. Supplied / Biosecurity NZ
How to identify the fly
Adult flies are a little larger than a housefly (6mm to 8mm long); have a dark “T” shaped marking on the abdomen (the part behind the waist); usually have a bright yellow and orange abdomen (but can vary); have clear wings. The female fly has a pointed “sting” to lay eggs inside fruit (but she can’t sting or bite people). The male fruit fly is a similar size but is reddish-brown.
Biosecurity New Zealand says if people who think they’ve found a fruit fly should photograph it, capture it if possible, and call MPI on 0800 80 99 66.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
