Papaya Fruit Fly

Introduction

Papaya fruit fly (Bactrocera papayae Drew & Hancock ) in Australia is a biosecurity success story. First detected by a member of the fruit growing community near Cairns in north Queensland in 1995, it was successfully eradicated by 1999.

This outbreak was within a major fruit growing area, involving 700 growers, and an annual production worth $470 million.

Crops such as bananas, mangoes, papaya (pawpaw), avocados, melons, lychees, longan, coffee and other emerging commercial crops were potential hosts. The significance of this pest is that it attacks fruit earlier than native fruit flies, when fruit is still green.

The outbreak of papaya fruit fly was considered an emergency, requiring a specific kind of immediate response. The agencies and communities were prepared to cooperate. The salience of biocontrol issue was very high.

Papaya Fruit Fly

 


Activity

Use the resouces listed in the resources tab to investigate the following questions about papaya fruit fly.

  • Why is papaya fruit fly a pest?
  • What are the key aspects of the ecology and biology papaya fruit fly that promote it being a pest?
  • Which groups or individuals comprise the community of interest surrounding papaya fruit fly as a pest?
  • How do the community and the pest interact to promote or reduce dispersal?
  • What strategies for community engagement were implemented or are now proposed?
  • Why was the maagement of papaya fruit fly successful?
  • Have you identifed possible improvements to the management of papaya fruit fly?

Resources

Refer to the following resources to build your understanding of the papaya fruit fly incursion, and strategies used to manage it.

  • Cantrell B., Chadwick B. and Cahil A. (2002). Fruit Fly Fighters. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood.
    Cantrell et al. (2002) provide a practical and fascinating account of a highly sucessful eradication program. It includes descriptions of institutional response, grower perspectives and the strategies for community engagement, refered to as "public relations".
  • Commonwealth of Australia (ND) PaDIL - Pests and Diseases Image Library. Acessed 2 September 2009.
    Use the search box on the PaDIL home page to find images and other information about papaya fruit fly.
  • QLD Primary Industries and Fisheries (2009) Papaya Fruit Fly. Accessed 5 September 2009
    The QLD Government has developed a comprehensive website capturing the success of the eradication campaign as well as further information on the biology, ecology and threats posed by the papaya fruit fly.
  • Plant Health Australia (2010). Plant Plan: Australian emergence plant pest response plan. Accessed August 2010 at http://www.planthealthaustralia.com.au/