The fly, described as related to the Oriental fruit fly, was found in a trap during a routine inspection this week. "Once intensive trapping determines whether this fly is simply a hitchhiker or part of a larger population, agriculture officials will recommend a course of action," said Florida Agriculture Secretary Charles Bronson. "If more flies are detected, eradication efforts may be confined to simply applying the lure high on tree trunks and utility poles until the male population is decimated.
" Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday that Florida's already small citrus crop is even smaller than anticipated.
Fruit flies are potentially one of the most destructive pests. They not only threaten citrus, but attack more than 100 types of fruits and vegetables. Females lay eggs under the skin of the fruit, and the larvae then destroy the fruit from the inside.
Bronson said inspectors with the state and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have begun intensive trapping in an 81-square-mile zone around the spot where the fly was found.
Oriental fruit flies have been trapped in Florida before. Several flies were caught in the Tampa area and Southwest Florida about seven years ago. A lone Oriental fruit fly was discovered on a residential grapefruit tree in south Manatee County in summer 2000 but turned out to be a hitchhiker that rode in from elsewhere on a piece of fruit or a plant.
Florida has never had a large-scale outbreak of Oriental fruit flies, relatives of the more notorious and pernicious Mediterranean fruit fly. Agricultural officials often suggest that residents not move any homegrown fruit off their property, recommending that homeowners take all ripe and fallen fruit, double-bag it in plastic and put it out with the household garbage, not with yard trash. Oriental fruit flies burrow into fruit and vegetables to lay eggs.
The insects are attracted to more than 150 varieties of fruit, including citrus, but most frequently to avocado, mango and papaya. Agriculture officials have never had to use aerial spraying to contain the Oriental fruit fly in Florida. Officials were blasted over an aerial spraying of malathion to contain a medfly outbreak in Manatee County in 1998.
The USDA said Thursday that the citrus crop had decreased another 1.3 percent to 128.9 million boxes, with the drop attributed to a smaller number of Valencia oranges, fruit prized by juicers such as Bradenton's Tropicana Products Inc.
for color and flavor. The citrus crop is the smallest in 17 years and down 13 percent from the 2005-06 harvest. When compared with the booming 2003-04 crop of 242 million boxes, the current crop is down by 46 percent.
"As we all know this was another challenging year for the Florida industry. The crop was impacted by the lingering effects of the hurricanes as well as disease pressures," said Mike Sparks, executive vice president and chief executive of the Florida Citrus Mutual, the state's largest growers organization. "But the crop size is by no means an indication of the vitality of the industry.
We will continue to rebound next year, and eventually we will find a solution to the greening issue," Sparks said. The smaller citrus crop has been good news for citrus growers who have enjoyed some of the best profits of the decade. A gallon of citrus goes for more than double the price of a gallon of gasoline.
It has not been such good news for consumers who have been paying high prices at the grocery store. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. The fly, described as related to the Oriental fruit fly, was found in a trap during a routine inspection this week.
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