Check Your Trees: These Invasive Flies are Targeting Texas Fruit

Portions of South Texas are under quarantine after residents spotted small, invasive flies on their fruit trees. These flies are known to infect crops and cause widespread damage to the citrus industry in Texas.

What are These Dangerous Flies Found in Texas?

They're called Mexican fruit flies and were first discovered in Mexico around 1863 posing threats to citrus crops ever since.

These flies can be easily spotted by their size and color. Males grow larger than the typical house fly and sport an orange-yellow color with three white stripes on their body. The wings have stripes as well, but they are more brown in appearance.

The females are where the craziness starts. They come equipped with a long tube-like organ at the tail-end of their body called an ovipositor. This is what they use to pierce the skin of citrus fruits and deposit their eggs.

The maggots grow by feeding on the inside of the fruit until they are big enough to enter the next phase of their life cycle.

What Signs to Look for During a Mexican Fruit Fly Infestation

Some telltale signs that you have been impacted by the Mexican fruit fly is that your orange or mango trees yield decaying fruit early that falls to the ground, serving as a home for young maggots.

Read More: Texas Scientist Explains why Mosquitoes Love You More

In order to prevent your crops from losing more fruit to these invasive pests, you should always remove any ripe fruit as soon as possible. Also, all fruit, both decaying and ripe, should NOT be left hanging on the tree or on the ground.

You should also double-bag all of your fruit before disposing of them in the trash, and never compost fruit that's been affected by the Mexican fruit fly.