The olive fruit fly (Bactrocera oleae) is a species of fruit fly which belongs to the Dacinae subfamily. It is a phytophagous species, whose larvae feed on the fruit of olive trees, hence the common name. It is considered a serious pest in the cultivation of olives.
Until 1998, the fly had not been detected in the United States, and its range coincided with the range of the olive tree in the Eastern Hemisphere: northern, eastern and southern Africa, Southern Europe, Canary Islands, India, and western Asia. In the Western Hemisphere, it is currently restricted to California. The olive fruit fly was first detected in North America infesting olive fruits on landscape trees in Los Angeles County in November 1998. It can now be found throughout the state. Its likely source of importation was from France.
The olive fruit fly received a bit of notoriety when an earmark for research designed to prevent infestation sponsored by Representative Mike Thompson received public attention as alleged federal pork barrel spending by persons who failed to understand its agricultural purpose.
Read more about Olive Fruit Fly: Distribution and Importance, Morphology, Cycle, Environmental Needs, Population Dynamics, Predisposing Factors, Damages, Auxiliaries Antagonised By The Olive Fruit Fly
Famous quotes containing the words olive, fruit and/or fly:
“Even when seen from near, the olive shows
A hue of far away. Perhaps for this
The dove brought olive back, a tree which grows
Unearthly pale, which ever dims and dries,
And whose great thirst, exceeding all excess,
Teaches the South it is not paradise.”
—Richard Wilbur (b. 1921)
“It is, I fear, but a vain show of fulfilling the heathen precept, “Know thyself,” and too often leads to a self-estimate which will subsist in the absence of that fruit by which alone the quality of the tree is made evident.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and groves,
And ye that on the sands with printless foot
Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him
When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
Whereof the ewe not bites; and you whose pastime
Is to make midnight mushrooms,”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)