Methods

Methods you can use to control fruit fly

Methods for control and prevention of fruit fly

Method	Helps to control	Helps prevent	Purpose
Exclusion	–	Egg laying in fruit	Protects fruit
Cover spraying	Adult flies, eggs and larvae	Egg laying in fruit and further damage of infested fruit	Protects fruit and reduces adult fly numbers
Baiting	Adult flies	Egg laying in fruit and fly proliferation	May protect fruit and reduce fruit fly numbers
Trapping	Adult flies	Egg laying in fruit and fly proliferation	Monitors fruit fly activity and may reduce fruit fly numbers
Sanitation	Larvae and eggs	Egg laying in fruit and larvae development	Breaks the life cycle development
Early harvesting	–	Egg laying in fruit	May protect fruit
Pruning	–	Egg laying in fruit and fly proliferation	Makes it easier to implement methods such as exclusion, cover spraying, baiting and sanitation
Host plant removal	–	Egg laying in fruit and fly proliferation	Removes need to manage fruit flies
Non-preferred hosts	–	Egg laying in fruit and fly proliferation	Reduces or removes need to manage fruit flies
Alternative plants	–	Egg laying in fruit and fly proliferation	Removes need to manage fruit flies

Control methods and life cycle stages

The table below shows control and prevention methods for use in the different stages of the fruit fly life cycle. Some methods can be used to control more than one stage.

Stage	Control method	Prevention method
Egg	Cover spraying Sanitation	Exclusion Early harvesting Host plant removal Non-preferred hosts Alternative plants
Larvae (maggots)	Cover spraying Sanitation	–
Pupae	Ground spraying (not suited for use by home gardeners)	–
Adults	Cover spraying Baiting Trapping	–