An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites always use a .gov or .mil domain. Before sharing sensitive information online, make sure you’re on a .gov or .mil site by inspecting your browser’s address (or “location”) bar.

This site is also protected by an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate that’s been signed by the U.S. government. The https:// means all transmitted data is encrypted  — in other words, any information or browsing history that you provide is transmitted securely.

U.S. Department of Agriculture
National Invasive Species Information Center
You are here
Home » Species Profiles » Terrestrial Invasives » Terrestrial Invertebrates » Mexican Fruit Fly

Mexican Fruit Fly

Mexican fruit fly
Scientific Name:
Anastrepha ludens (Loew, 1873) (ITIS)
Synonym:
Anastrepha lathana, Trypeta ludens (ITIS)
Common Name:
Mexican fruit fly, Mexfly
Photo:
Mexican Fruit Fly - In grapefruit as well as many other fruits, one female Mexican fruit fly can deposit large numbers of eggs: up to 40 eggs at a time, 100 or more a day, and about 2,000 over her life span - Jack Dykinga, USDA. Agricultural Research Serv
Native To:
Mexico and Central America (Flitters and Messenger 1965)
Date of U.S. Introduction:
First observed as a winter migrant in southern Texas in 1903, with infestations occurring beginning in 1927; it was first discovered outside of its usual range in 1954 (Flitters and Messenger 1965)
Means of Introduction:
Migrates into southern Texas from Mexico; may be introduced to other areas through the movement of infested fruit (Aluja 1994; Thomas 2004)
Impact:
Larvae attack at least 60 varieties of fruit, particularly citrus and mangoes (Thomas 2004)

Distribution/Maps/Survey Status

Quarantine

Images

Videos

Selected Resources

The section below contains selected highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source. To view all related content for this species, click on "View all resources for species" in the top left of this page.

Partnership

Citrus Pests - Mexican Fruit Fly
USDA. APHIS. PPQ. CPHST. Identification Technology Program.
EPPO Global Database - Anastrepha ludens

European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization.
Invasive Species Compendium - Anastrepha ludens
CAB International.
Plantwise Technical Factsheet - Mexican Fruit Fly (Anastrepha ludens)
CABI. Plantwise Knowledge Bank.
South Texas Citrus Alert - Mexican Fruit Fly
Texas Citrus Pest and Disease Management Corporation.
TISI Inventory - Mexican Fruit Fly
Texas State University System. Texas Invasive Species Institute.

Federal Government

Hungry Pests: The Threat - Mexican Fruit Fly
USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Plant Pest and Disease Program: Insects - Fruit Flies

USDA. APHIS. Plant Protection and Quarantine.

State and Local Government

Florida Exotic Fruit Fly Monitoring Program
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Division of Plant Industry.
Contains fact sheets and other resources for Mediterranean fruit fly, Mexican fruit fly, and Oriental fruit fly
Pest Profile - Mexican Fruit Fly Pest Profile
California Department of Food and Agriculture. Plant Health Division. Pest Detection/Emergency Projects Branch.

Academic

EDIS - Mexican Fruit Fly
University of Florida. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension.
Electronic Data Information Source Publication #ENY201

Professional

Pest Fruit Flies of the World - Anastrepha ludens (Loew)

Pest Fruit Flies of the World.

Version: Dec 8, 2006; using DELTA format (DEscription Language for TAxonomy) is a flexible method for encoding taxonomic descriptions for computer processing.

Citations