Queensland fruit fly

Queensland fruit fly is a known pest in the ACT. While Canberra generally experiences a cooler climate that limits continuous year-round breeding, it is established in surrounding regions and sporadic outbreaks or detections do occur within the territory.

About the pest

Queensland fruit fly (QFF; Bactrocera tryoni) is a highly invasive agricultural pest, infesting more than 300 species of cultivated fruits and vegetables and posing a serious threat to the horticultural industry.

Why they are a problem

QFF is a problem for a number of reasons:

• It attacks over 300 species of fruit and vegetables.
• The QFF is capable of rapidly reproducing, with one fly able to lay up to 100 eggs per day and a lifecycle of only 30 days in some regions.
• When it attacks, the damage is often hidden with flies only leaving a tiny mark on fruit surfaces and flies hatching inside.
• QFF are reddish-brown in colour, have distinct yellow markings on their bodies and nearly transparent wings. They are sometimes mistaken for wasps, which they resemble.

What to look for

• Mature QFF usually measure about 6 mm – 8 mm in length and hold their wings horizontally when walking.
• Females make a tiny hole into fruits and deposit their eggs under the skin. These eggs hatch larvae, which eat the flesh of the fruit, causing it to decay and drop prematurely.

How it spreads

The QFF spreads primarily in two ways:

• human transport of infested produce (the most common cause over long distances)
• natural flight dispersal (moving from tree to tree in local areas).

Report sightings