Identify and report fruit fly
Find out how to identify fruit fly in your fruit and vegetables, and report any findings.
Signs in fruit and vegetables
Bruising or blemishes
Check the outside of your fruit and vegetables for bruises or blemishes, indicating it has been stung by a fruit fly.
Maggots
Check the inside of your fruit and vegetables by cutting them open and looking for tiny white larvae (maggots) wriggling around, indicating it has been infected by fruit fly. You are more likely to see maggots than fruit fly.
Vinegar flies are tiny, dark, and harmless – you do not need to report them. These are often seen around fruit in your fruit bowl, in compost, or in shops.
Seal and report suspected fruit fly
Reporting fruit fly helps us know if there is a breeding population so we can act quickly to eradicate an outbreak.
If you find maggots, or anything wriggling that you're not sure about:
- Seal the fruit in a plastic bag or container.
- Contact the 24-hour Fruit Fly Hotline on 1300 666 010 to report suspicious findings. We will arrange testing.
Do not freeze any collected fruit flies, larvae, or produce as this will impair our testing.
Fruit fly life cycle
Fruit flies spread through 6 stages, which can ruin host fruit and vegetables:
- The female fly stings fruit to lay her eggs inside.
- The eggs mature into maggots which feed on the fruit from the inside, making it turn rotten.
- As the infected fruit falls to ground, the maggots jump out of the fruit and bury themselves underground.
- The maggots turn into pupae.
- Immature flies emerge from the soil, leaving their pupal shell behind.
- Flies mature and breed, completing the life cycle.
Species of fruit fly
There are hundreds of species of fruit fly in Australia, and several of these pose an economic concern.
In recent years, South Australia has been managing incursions of Queensland fruit fly (Qfly) and Mediterranean fruit fly (Med-fly). Both species are not established in the state, and they have potential to affect our fruit fly status.
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The native Queensland fruit fly is established in the eastern states, and the Northern Territory. Adults are 6 to 8 mm long, wasp-like, and red-brown in colour with yellow marks. Larvae can grow from 7 to 10 mm when mature and are creamy-white in colour.
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Mediterranean fruit fly is an introduced species and established in parts of Western Australia. Adults are 3 to 5 mm long and light brown, with the abdomen encircled by 2 pale rings. They have mottled wings and the eyes are iridescent. Larvae grow to about 8 mm long and are white in colour.
