SEATTLE - Destructive fruit flies were detected for the first time in eastern Washington. The Asian red-eyed fruit flies were spotted in five major fruit production regions. They damage ripening soft fruit by laying eggs in it.

According to a researcher at Washington State University, some peach growers in Oregon reported losing 50% of their crops last year. The flies originally came from Asia. The same species showed up in western Washington 2009, and again this year.

The Washington Blueberry Commission has been working with researchers to figure out how to control the fruit flies. Alan Schreiber is the director of the commission. He says it is unclear how major the damage will be.

Schreiber: “This pest is either gonna cost us a lot of money to control it or it is gonna cost even more amount in terms of loss production. We are really holding our breath in waiting to see if we had the ability to control the insect or not.”

Growers have been setting up traps to help catch the fruit flies. Doug Walsh is a professor at Washington State University. He believes organic growers are most susceptible.

Walsh: “Obviously, it’s a new pest in our area. The shame that we have right now is we had a very large increase in our organic blueberry production here in eastern Washington. We have a number of pesticides that can control this insect that’s relatively easy to control with the insecticides that are available, but it’s the organic producers and the backyard growers that I am concerned about. ”

Walsh also says the pest is seasonal, and they tend to increase in a warmer weather. He hopes that a cold winter in eastern Washington will help depress the fly population. [Joy Ma]

Copyright 2010 KUOW

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