There are significant research efforts underway in New Zealand and Australia to develop more advanced control tools that will reduce the impact of Queensland fruit fly - kiwifruit’s number one biosecurity threat. An exciting new development this week is the launch of a female specific fruit fly trap in Australia. Currently our surveillance traps have used pheromones that attract only male flies so a female specific trap is a research priority.

Professor Dick Drew from Griffith University in Queensland has developed a fruit fly trap after 30 years of investigating fruit fly behaviour. He says the Fruition Trap will enable Australian growers to substantially reduce the financial impact of Queensland fruit fly. The trap may also be a potential control tool for us, should New Zealand be faced with another fruit fly incursion. MPI have been keeping abreast of this project to understand the potential application for New Zealand. Click here to read the full story on ABC Australia. Photo credit: Griffith University.