Small flies with a reddish-brown body and red eyes. Queensland fruit fly has yellow markings on the body. Fruit fly is attracted to ripening and fermented fruits and vegetables. Fruit can be stung when they are just changing colour or later. The adult fly lays the eggs just under the fruit outer surface. This is the time that insecticide is effective on fruit fly. When the larvae hatch, they tunnel into the fruit centre and their feeding causes the fruit to rot. At this point, chemical control is largely ineffective. Numbers of fruit fly build up in warm moist weather, for example, wet summers and autumns. Fruit fly attacks a large range of host plants which include avocados, bananas, citrus, stonefruit, passionfruit, tomatoes and capsicums. For control, remove the affected fruit and dispose of in plastic bags. Spray maturing fruit thoroughly as good coverage is important if the chemical is to be effective.
Symptoms :Sting marks may show up as yellow spots or oozing gum
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