Species Ceratitis capitata - Mediterranean Fruit Fly

Med Fly (or Medfly)

Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann, 1824)

Ceratitis citripeda Efflatoun, 1924

Pardalaspis asparagi Bezzi, 1924

Ceratitis hispanica Breme, 1842

Ceratitis citriperda Macleay, 1829

Tephritis capitata Wiedemann, 1824

Trypeta capitata (Wiedemann, 1824)

adult 4-5 mm, larva to ~8 mm

native to tropical e. Africa, adventive elsewhere, now spread throughout the world(1); in our area, infestations have been reported in FL, CA, and TX. Sterile males are being released in FL (from Miami to Palm Beach) as a prophylactic measure to prevent the establishment of a wild Medfly population.

larvae feed and develop on many deciduous, subtropical, and tropical fruits (citrus, peach, pear, apple) and some vegetables, sometimes tunneling through the pulp and eventually reducing it to a juicy inedible mass

One of the world's most destructive fruit pests, and the most economically important fruit fly species. Each infestation detected in FL and CA triggered massive eradication and detection effort. In CA, large numbers of sterile males are released and are not uncommon in some places. A female would be a sign of an infestation, and should be reported immediately. Females have a visible ovipositor on the rear tip of the abdomen and lack the ornamented hairs on the male head seen in the photo below.

The Picture-winged Fly, Dyscrasis hendeli is very similar. (darker bands on the wings and a darker abdomen) - Family Ulidiidae - Picture-winged Flies