Hold onto your produce: Parts of LA County under invasive fruit fly quarantine

Hold onto your homegrown fruits and vegetables — invasive fruit flies have sparked a quarantine in parts of Los Angeles County.

Caribbean fruit flies, which California officials say are a serious threat to state resources, have been detected in and around Montebello.

People living in the 75-square-mile quarantine zone are warned not to move homegrown fruits and vegetables from their property. That means not sharing your harvest with neighbors, friends or family.

Victoria Hornbaker, who directs plant health and pest prevention services at the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), told LAist that Caribbean fruit flies can cause billions of dollars in damage to the state’s agriculture.

“That's going to impact our ability to feed our families,” she said. “Our ability to grow fruit that feeds the world.”

About the quarantine

The quarantine area is bordered by Alhambra to the north, Downey to the south, Huntington Park to the west and South El Monte to the east.

Five Caribbean fruit flies have been detected in the area since late September, including four adults, marking the state’s first quarantine for the species since 1985.

The quarantine area is bordered by Alhambra to the north, Downey to the south, Huntington Park to the west and South El Monte to the east.

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The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)

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You can check if your address is affected by typing it into the CDFA map here. Moving or sharing fruit inside the quarantine zone can spread the flies.

“You could inadvertently be taking a piece of fruit that has a larvae, moving it to a new area, which could create a whole new quarantine, a whole new infestation,” Hornbaker said.

You can still snack on or process the produce by juicing, freezing or cooking it at the same place it was picked. If you throw any fruits or veggies away, use double plastic bags and put them in the garbage — not the compost or green bin.

“We want it going into the general waste stream where you bag it … and it gets buried at the landfill,” she said.

If the quarantine goes well and the species doesn’t spread further, Hornbaker said it’s expected to be lifted next summer.

What are Caribbean fruit flies?

Caribbean fruit flies are small — about a third of an inch long. But they’re bigger than the gnat-type flies you shoo away from the overripe bananas in your kitchen.

Their “striking” brownish-orange bodies and striped clear wings can make them look more like a bee or a small house fly, Hornbaker said.

Caribbean fruit fly larvae on fruit.

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California Department of Food and Agriculture

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www.alamy.com

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The female fruit flies will lay white, somewhat banana-shaped eggs inside the skin of a host fruit or vegetable, including avocados, citrus, tomatoes, figs and pears. You can find a full list of the more than 200 fruits and vegetables that could host Caribbean fruit flies here.

Those eggs will grow into maggots, which will burrow through the produce until they eventually emerge, making those fruits and vegetables inedible to us humans.

How did they get here?

Invasive fruit flies usually "hitchhike" in fruits and vegetables being brought to California as travelers return from infested regions around the world. They can also be unknowingly shipped along with packages of homegrown produce from other states or countries.

Caribbean fruit flies in particular can be found in the Caribbean, of course, and Florida.

There’s been an uptick in people shipping produce from both of those regions lately, according to Hornbaker, particularly through online marketplaces that likely aren’t using the appropriate inspection procedures.

“We want to remind folks not to purchase fruits and vegetables from, you know, through Etsy, through Facebook Marketplace from places like Florida and the Caribbean,” she said. “Because it's likely going to be bringing in Caribbean fruit fly larvae.”

Officials are encouraging people to shop for produce locally from the more than 400 specialty crops grown in California or at least purchase them through the appropriate channels.

You can learn more about how to avoid accidentally packing a pest here.

How you can help

If you think you see an invasive fruit fly or have questions about the quarantine, you can call the CDFA Pest Hotline at (800) 491-1899. You can learn more about reporting a potential pest here.

If agricultural officials knock on your door and ask to cut your produce, let them. They’re trying to get rid of any eggs or larvae from the area. They may also ask to place traps in your yard or set up bait station treatments with an organic pesticide to help remove any live adult fruit flies.