Fruit fly management program
The 4 step process
The management of Queensland Fruit Fly in the Ecovillage follows the process devised by the entomologist Richard Bull. The process consists of 4 aspects:
1. Monitoring the population, using traps.
2. Suppressing the male population by using 'attract and kill' traps.
3. Suppressing the female population by using protein bait sprays.
4. Removing fallen fruit to interrupt the fly's lifecycle.
You can read more details of the process here.
Specifics of the ecovillage program can be found here.
What you can do to help
Place fallen fruit in the bins provided
It's important to break the lifecycle of the fruit fly by removing infected fruit, either still on the tree or on the ground. Please place the fruit in the bins provided on the greenways.
Install traps and/or net your trees
You can protect your fruit trees by installing fruit fly traps and/or covering the trees with netting that's fruit fly proof. The ELM team can provide advice.
Join the volunteer team
New volunteers to spray and install traps are always welcome.
Approximately once a month you'll walk around your local part of the ecovillage, applying spray to designated trees. It takes under an hour (depending on how often you stop to talk to people!) and is a great way to meet your neighbours and contribute to food production in the ecovillage.
Contact elm@villagehub.com.au if you'd like more information.