This is the time to process the last autumn fruits of the season; apples, pears, feijoas, tamarillos, tomatoes, you name it. I go into my little orchard and there’s fruit lying everywhere – bird-peck, rodents, possums everybody has a go, even the fungi and bacteria.

If you’ve got something fermenting lying around, some rotting fruit or seriously mushy peas, Drosophila won’t be far away. This tiny, red-eyed, fly is not only famous around the scientific world as the genetic clotheshorse for trials of dominance and recessiveness, it is also known as that persistent little so-and-so that hovers around your glass of red wine,

The common name of this Drosophila fly is “vinegar fly”, NOT “fruitfly”. The ecological role of these Drosophila is decomposition and fermentation and their numbers tend to be huge in your compost bin, where they do a fabulous job in mushing things up.

FRUITFLY are a different kettle of fish. In the wake of the historical detections of Queensland fruitfly (Bactrocera tryoni) and other species in pheromone traps in Auckland and Whangarei, it may be prudent to chuck a spotlight on these devilish but beautiful insects and their unfortunate life style.

Real fruitflies are almost the size of house flies; they lay their eggs just under the skin of almost ripe fruit. Their maggots will tunnel through the fruit, which makes them drop off prematurely – the maggots like that idea, as they can easily tunnel into the soil and change into the pupa stage. Of course those real fruitflies are a serious problem when it comes to growing our fruit crops: you’ll; need a heavy spray programme to thwart their activities. If you do find something that looks like a fruitfly (NOT Drosophila) contact MPI on 0800 809 966