Trap fruit fly

Here’s how to trap fruit fly and save your precious crop.

There are many commercial products designed to attract and decimate fruit fly. Wild May attracts the male of the species, providing you with a warning that the pest is active. Baits such as Eco-Naturalure tempt and kill both male and female fruit flies. You spot-spray these types of products in small patches on the leaves of fruit. The Cera Trap also attracts and destroys both sexes. You purchase the liquid attractant in bulk, then pour it into a yellow-capped jar with an access hole, which you hang adjacent to fruiting plants.

You can also make your own traps with a 1L or 2L plastic bottle. Make a small hole in the top for access, add a teaspoon of Vegemite, a teaspoon of sugar and some orange peel, fill the bottle one-third with water, then give it a good shake to dissolve the Vegemite and sugar.

To trap fruit fly, hang a number of commercial and homemade traps in the vicinity of fruiting trees. This will significantly reduce fruit fly populations and offer a reasonable level of control. However, it may not give you complete control, particularly with highly susceptible fruit such as tomato and stone fruit, so consider using them in combination with exclusion bags and nets.