Keep our shire free of Queensland fruit fly

Queensland fruit fly is the main fruit fly pest species that damages intact fruit on the tree. It can devastate commercial and backyard crops.

To help council and local action groups monitor fruit fly we are calling on the community to help us locate their whereabouts by adding a marker to the below map. Descriptions and photos can also be added so feel free to add more details.

Thank you for your help!

Report Queensland fruit fly

Identify Queensland fruit fly

We know fruit fly lives throughout the state and nearby in our shire. It is clear the flies can acclimatise to cooler climates and have even begun adapting to different fruit such as wine grapes. It’s important that we keep fruit fly out of our shire and protect produce grown in backyard and commercial orchards and gardens.

Use the below information and photos as a guide to confirm you have seen Queensland fruit fly. Members of the local Mount Alexander fruit fly group on Facebook may also be able to help with identification.

Identifying flies

The fly: Is about 5-8mm long with reddish eyes. The fly is brown with yellow ‘shoulder pads’ and other markings including a yellow triangle at the base of the mid-section.

Queensland Fruit Fly identification

Images: Adult Female Queensland Fruit Fly (Image Agriculture Victoria); Adult Queensland Fruit Fly (Image James Niland).

Identifying larvae

The larvae: Are white or cream and 2-9 mm long. They are wedge shaped and plumper at the tail end. A black feeding hook is visible in mature larvae. You can find between 2 and 20 larvae in the fruit.

The pupae: Are like a large grain of brown rice and vary in colour from cream to brown.

The fruit: Infected fruit becomes soft and spongy and may start to rot. You may see sting marks on light coloured fruit. The flies may eat all the fruit and leave the skin.

Queensland Fruit Fly larvae

Images: Fruit fly larvae in stone fruit (image: Applied Horticultural Research); fruit fly larvae (image: Agriculture Victoria); fruit fly pupae (image: Applied Horticultural Research).

Your community, your vision

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