Olive Fruit Flies can be a a big pain in your olive grove! Females can lay 50 - 400 eggs, usually one egg per fruit. Not only do the feeding larvae cause damage to the fruit, the oviposition stings caused by the females will also destroy the fruit even if the egg isn't viable. Feeding damage can also cause premature fruit drop and reduce fruit quality for both table olive and olive oil production. Large numbers of rotting fruit on the ground can create an unwelcome mess, especially in landscaped situations.
Management of olive fruit fly on trees with a crop to be harvested depends on a combination of tactics, especially mass trapping and cleaning up fruit after harvest. A combination of mass trapping to reduce the olive fruit fly population together with one late season application of kaolin clay (like Surround WP) applied so that it thoroughly coats the fruit has been effective in research trials. The barrier film spray should be applied as the fruit begins to be attacked in late summer or early fall.
These non-gendered Olive Fruit Fly lures are a preloaded polygon that can be used in a Multilure Trap
Shelf Life: 6 Weeks once opened
