The new video is available online and helps gardeners identify and manage the pest in their gardens.
Agriculture Victoria’s fruit fly co-ordinator Cathy Mansfield said plenty of great work was being done across Victoria to manage the pest but people shouldn’t become complacent.
‘‘This video, Queensland fruit fly in your garden, has been developed to answer one of our most commonly asked questions — how to identify this specific pest in gardens and avoid controlling beneficial flies,’’ Ms Mansfield said.
‘‘By understanding the life cycle of Queensland fruit fly and how it behaves, Victorians will have a better chance of controlling it in gardens so that they can enjoy their home-grown fruit and vegetables.
‘‘With Queensland fruit fly now in most parts of Victoria, it’s important that everyone understands they have an important role to play to keep numbers down.’’
The Queensland fruit fly is native but is considered a pest because of how destructive it is.
The insect will infest a large variety of fruits and vegetables, rendering them inedible and has become a huge problem for farmers and commercial fruit growers across Australia.
The flies are most active in warmer weather and will target ripening fruit and vegetables including stone-fruits, tomatoes, capsicums, eggplants and citrus.
Home gardeners can monitor for Queensland fruit fly using traps and if they think they have an infestation, check their fruit and vegetables for sting mark, rot and maggots, which may be hidden inside.
‘‘Other tips for managing Queensland fruit fly in home gardens include netting host plants, removing unwanted fruiting trees and plants, picking up and disposing of unwanted and fallen fruit and applying baits and cover sprays,’’ Ms Mansfield said.
‘‘Working together to control Queensland fruit fly not only protects home-grown produce, it also reduces their numbers in towns — and this has a flow-on effect to protect Victoria’s multi-million-dollar horticultural industries.’’
To watch the video and find out more about Queensland fruit fly, visit agriculture.vic.gov.au/qff or phone the Customer Service Centre on 136186.
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