Cherry Fruit Fly
Adult cherry fruit flies resemble small houseflies with bars on their wings. They are about 1/5 inch long. Adults emerge in late spring or early summer. The females lay eggs inside the developing fruit. The maggots that hatch out are yellowish white and legless, with two dark mouth hooks. Cherry fruit flies are found throughout the U.S. except the extreme Southwest and Florida.
Small Misshapen Pears
If your pears are small and misshapen, and have maggots feeding on rotten flesh in the fruit, cherry fruit flies have infested your trees. The pears may (drop)prematurely.
Solution To Cherry Fruit Fly Problem
Early Warning Device - To control cherry fruit flies, it is essential to control the adults before the eggs are laid. Set out red spherical sticky traps to catch the flies and signal their arrival; you can even control the pest if you hang four4 or five in a tree. Traps work best when they are positioned in branches where flies can alight as they apporach the traps. do not leave traps out for more than 3 or 4 weeks, or they will catch beneficial as well as pest insects.
For more information on red sticky traps; click here
then spray the trees with rotenone. Continue to spray at 7 to 10 day intervals until traps show no more adults.
