Step 2 – Define and investigate your area: where could flies be?

Look around through an Area Wide Management lens. Experts tell us that Qfly uses a variety of fruits as hosts and will search across a landscape within a radius between 500 metres and 2 kilometres. Any suitable fruit within these distances can be a potential source of Qfly.

In urban areas there are multiple hosts available all year round, and Qfly can build up high population densities. Pay special attention to features of the surrounding landscape, especially other host trees which might be sources for Qfly. You might even be able to identify unwanted fruit trees and/or other host plants that are best removed.

Be aware of when your fruit is susceptible and how this relates to fruit or vegetables being grown around you. These could harbour fly populations that later in the year can infest your trees. If you have early-maturing fruit (such as loquat) or vegetables, you should consider spots where the flies might have been overwintering (near trees with fruit left on them from the previous year, and warmer sheltered sites that create a suitable habitat) or newly emerged flies from the soil.