Mexican Fruit Fly, Anastrepha ludens (Loew)

Mexican fruit fly is a very serious pest of various fruits, particularly citrus and mango, in Mexico and Central America. Its natural distribution includes the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, where populations routinely attain pest status if control measures are not practiced. It is a frequent invader in southern California and Arizona. Mexican fruit fly represents a particular threat to Florida because of its special affinity for grapefruit, of which Florida is one of the world’s leading producers. Although larvae are transported widely in infested fruits, the discovery of adults in Florida has been surprisingly rare. A single specimen was detected in a McPhail trap in Sarasota in 1972 which initiated an extensive survey program that yielded no further specimens (see Clark et al. 1996); and two specimens (one male and one female), labeled “Key West, 22-IX-34, at Spondias mombin Jacq., O.D. Link Coll., S.P.B. Acc. No. 52582″ are present in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods.