Mexican fruit fly

Anastrepha ludens

1. Identification

• Common name: Mexican fruit fly
• Scientific name: Anastrepha ludens Loew
• Order: Diptera
• Family: Tephritidae

2. Pest description

• Adults 7–11 mm, yellowish-orange body with dark markings.
• Wings with a characteristic inverted “S”-shaped pattern.
• White, legless larvae that develop inside the fruit.
• Brown pupae, formed in the soil.
• Oviposition beneath the fruit epidermis, through visible punctures.

3. Main hosts

• Citrus (especially grapefruit).
• Mango.
• Peach.
• Guava.
• Loquat.
• Other susceptible tropical and subtropical fruit trees.

4. Symptoms and damage

• Punctures in the skin due to oviposition.
• Softening and discolouration of the pulp.
• Development of larval galleries.
• Secondary rots.
• Premature fruit drop.
• High economic losses and significant quarantine impact.

5. Biological cycle

• Several generations per year in warm climates.
• Long-lived adults, with high reproductive capacity.
• Oviposition in developing fruit.
• Larvae feed on the pulp until they complete their development.
• Pupation in the soil, a few centimetres deep.
• Cycle favoured by high temperatures and a continuous availability of fruit.

6. Monitoring

• Traps with food-based or specific attractants for Anastrepha.
• Installation before the start of fruit ripening.
• Weekly counts to assess population pressure.
• Observation of fruit with oviposition punctures.
• Continuous monitoring in areas of quarantine risk.

7. Management measures

• Cultural: removal and destruction of fallen fruit, strict sanitation, elimination of alternative hosts and crop management to reduce sources of infestation.
• Biological: use of parasitoids such as Diachasmimorpha longicaudata, conservation of natural enemies and application of entomopathogens in specific programmes.
• Integrated protection: mass trapping, Attract & Kill systems, protein baits with an authorised insecticide, targeted treatments once thresholds are reached and integration of cultural practices to keep populations below the economic damage level.

Bibliographic references

• EPPO Global Database – Anastrepha spp..
• CABI Invasive Species Compendium – Anastrepha ludens.
• Hernández, E. et al. (2010). Biology and management of Anastrepha fruit flies.
• Zucchi, R. A. (2000). Fruit flies in South American horticulture.