The cities of Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Fountain Valley were placed under quarantine Wednesday in light of an uninvited and unwelcome visitor: the oriental fruit fly, an invasive pest that attacks more than 230 crops, including fruits, nuts and vegetables.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture order prohibits the distribution of fruit from the quarantine area outside of it. The goal is to prevent oriental fruit fly from spreading to more crops while working to eliminate the pest.

Quarantine zone in Orange County takes action 87 square milesbordered on the north by Anaheim, on the south by John Wayne Airport, on the west by Huntington Beach and on the east by State Highway 55.

Residents living in quarantine areas can help prevent the spread of oriental fruit flies by not moving these crops from their property. Residents can consume or process (juice, freeze, cook or grind in a trash can) their home-grown produce if it has not been contaminated. For residents who prefer to dispose of their harvest, the Department of Food and Agriculture recommends double bagging it and throwing it in the regular trash, not the green bin.

Female oriental fruit flies contaminate fruit by laying eggs inside, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. The eggs then hatch into worms that pass through the flesh of the fruit, making it unfit for consumption.

The infestation cycle continues When the maggots emerge 10 days later, they fall from the fruit and burrow two to three centimeters into the earth to pupate. In 10 to 12 days, adults surface to feast for about 90 days on honeydew melon, rotting fruit, plant nectar, and bird manure. An adult fruit fly is a powerful flyer that travels 30 miles in search of food and sites to lay eggs, giving it the ability to quickly infest new areas, according to the Department of Food and Agriculture. ‘Agriculture.

The oriental fruit fly is widespread across much of the South Asian continent and neighboring islands, including Sri Lanka and Taiwan, and has invaded other areas, including Africa and Hawaii.

The fly species was first discovered in California in 1960 and has been reintroduced annually since 1966 through the arrival of infested fruits and vegetables in the state.

Crops threatened by this particular invasive species include pome and stone fruits, citrus, dates, avocados, and many vegetables, especially tomatoes and peppers.

Agriculture officials work to eliminate the infestation by applying a small patch of fruit fly attractant mixed with a very small dose of an organic pesticide, Spinosad, about 8 to 10 feet above the ground on street trees, utility poles, lamp posts and similar surfaces. . Male fruit flies are attracted to the mixture and perish after consuming it.

This program is carried out over an area that extends 2.4 kilometers from each site where oriental fruit flies have been trapped, according to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Although fruit flies and other invasive species are sometimes detected in agricultural areas, the vast majority are found in urban and suburban communities. The most likely route for these pests to enter the state is to “hitchhike” on fruits and vegetables brought illegally by travelers returning from infested parts of the world, or in packages of home-grown produce in from other countries sent to California.