Fruit fly control: traps, baits and netting
How to control fruit fly in a home or small orchard: monitoring traps, protein baits, netting and bags, picking early and cleaning up fallen fruit.
Fruit fly is the pest most growers dread in summer. One female can lay eggs in dozens of ripening fruit, and the first you know of it is a soft spot with maggots inside. The good news is that a few steps, started early and kept up, protect most of the crop without strong sprays.
Know your fly
In eastern Australia the main pest is the Queensland fruit fly. In Western Australia it is the Mediterranean fruit fly. Both lay eggs in ripening fruit, and both are most active in warm, humid weather. Stone fruit, apples, pears, citrus, figs, feijoas, guavas and tomatoes are all at risk.
Some districts have rules about moving fruit, to keep fruit fly out. If you live in or near one, check your state's rules before taking fruit to friends or markets.
1. Monitor with traps
Lure traps hung in the trees from early spring catch male flies. They won't control fruit fly on their own, but they tell you when the flies have arrived, so you can start baiting at the right time. Check traps weekly and note what you catch.
2. Bait the females
Females need protein before they can lay eggs. Protein baits mixed with a small amount of insecticide (spinosad is a common organic option) attract and kill them before they reach the fruit.
- Start baiting about six weeks before harvest, or as soon as traps catch flies.
- Apply a few spots or a coarse spray to the leaves, not the fruit, once a week and after rain.
- Bait trees around the orchard too, as flies shelter in dense shrubs nearby.
3. Keep them out
Exclusion is the most reliable control for a few trees. Fine fruit fly netting over the whole tree, or bags over individual fruit or bunches, stops females reaching the fruit at all. Net before the fruit starts to colour, and make sure the net is closed at the bottom. See our guide to netting fruit trees without harming wildlife.
4. Pick early and clean up
- Pick fruit as soon as it is ready, or slightly early for fruit that ripens off the tree.
- Pick up fallen and damaged fruit every few days. Seal it in a plastic bag in the sun for a week, or freeze it, before putting it in the bin. Never compost infested fruit whole.
- Strip all remaining fruit after harvest so the next generation has nowhere to breed.
Work with your neighbours
Fruit fly travels. One neglected tree down the street can keep a whole area infested. If neighbours grow fruit, sharing traps, baiting at the same time and swapping surplus fruit before it drops helps everyone.
A fruit fly calendar
- Early spring: hang monitoring traps.
- Six weeks before harvest: start weekly baiting, net or bag fruit.
- Through harvest: pick promptly, clean up fallen fruit every few days.
- After harvest: strip remaining fruit, keep traps up while the weather is warm.
Trees n Bees puts fruit fly traps and baiting in each month's care for the crops you grow, and any of them becomes a job for someone on your team in one tap. Note what your traps catch each week, and next season you will know when the flies arrive on your place.