Biosecurity officials will be setting traps in Auckland NZ suburbs and restricting the movement of fruit today following the discovery of a Queensland fruit fly.

The single male fruit fly was discovered in Mt Roskill this week, and efforts are now being made to establish if there is a more general infestation.

If the pest has spread, experts say, it could devastate the fruit industry - requiring an eradication response that could include aerial spraying and a halt to lucrative exports of many at-risk fruits.

FRUIT FLIES
* Cost Australian fruit growers more than $100 million a year.
* Attack most fruit and vegetables but especially citrus, berries and stone fruits.
* Eggs hatch into white larvae in ripening fruit.
* Larvae eat their way towards the centre of fruit, which decays.
* Adult emerges after about two weeks.
* Scientific name Bactrocera tryoni.
* Native to eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales.
* Length about 5mm to 8mm.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10805088

Hopefully it is just a lone male. If any females are found our fruit growers may be in for hard times.

Bad news, thanks for the report Glenn.

i would like to know more about citrus industry in NZ, because it is similar to croatian situation regarding geographical position. Here we grow citrus from 42 to 44 parallel. i have never heard about commercial citrus growing on higher latidudes. Do you grow citrus on southern island? What is your usda zone, which is the most common zitrus you grow?

The New Zealand citrus industry now comprises some 1,700 hectares divided between approximately 500 orchards, most of which are in the Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, and Northland regions. Approximately $40 million of fruit is produced per annum, and of that some $5 million is exported to overseas markets. On a global scale, New Zealand's production is very small – we produce only 0.03% of the world's citrus.
http://www.citrus.co.nz/html/industry_information.html

South Island has only a few backyard citrus grown due to winter cold.. Only the coastal belt in the very North East of the North Island grows commercial citrus. Backyard citrus thrives in much of the North Island Coastal area particularly Meyer Lemons and Satsuma mandarins.
NZ is a long thin country and the bottom 1/3 has snow in the winter.
I see the English press is now mentioning our potential problem.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2142363/New-Zealand-SINGLE-Australian-fly-threatens-2bn-fruit-vegetable-industry.html

it says here that you are all on red alert. Hope that you will win this battle.

Snow in winter is no problem.
Most citrus areas in europe have that at least in some winters.

Same about Japan.

Authorities are confident restrictions on fruit movements in west Auckland will be lifted this weekend with no new discoveries of Queensland fruit flies.

Results from trapping are expected to be completed by Friday afternoon.

Intensive surveillance has not located any more fruit flies since one of the insects was discovered in Avondale on May 8.

We have lots of fruit flies in europe.

You will not find any cherry without at least 1 worm in it.

Only if you put pesticide on it, you will reduce it, but still have many.

I better eat the worms, but the poison ...

These are two different flies:
Rhagoletis cerasi is the cherry's worm, and Ceratitis capitata the Mediterranean fruit fly. That's for Europe.
In the south hemisphere fruit fly can mean Bactrocera xanthodes.
I don't know which one is the issue in New Zealand, Ceratitis capitata or Bactrocera xanthodes.

We ave the meridian fruitfly here already too ... due imports from southern fruits and the climate change ...

Well, maybe this hard winter killed them all, one trouble less ...

Anyways, they look all very similary ...

Queensland fruit fly-Bactrocera tryoni
Threat: Queensland fruit fly (QFF) is widely recognised as one of the world’s worst economic pests of fruit. Apart from lowering production and making fruit inedible, it has severe effects on trade to sensitive local and international markets.

About the pest: Adult QFF are about 7mm long and brownish in colour, with distinctive yellow markings. Females lay their eggs into soft and ripening host fruit. Larvae (maggots - up to 10mm long) emerge from the eggs and cause damage by living and feeding within the fruit, which may appear intact from the outside.
http://www.quarantinedomestic.gov.au/queensland-fruit-fly.html

Make juice and have some extra proteine ...

Who does not look will never see ...