Fourth fruit fly found

A fourth fruit fly has been found in Auckland, less than 300m from the last detection in Northcote.

The discovery has prompted further biosecurity restrictions on the movement of fruit and vegetables in the Northcote area.

The 200m restricted radius in Northcote will be extended towards the southeast to include the latest finding.

“We are taking further measures to ensure we are doing everything we can sensibly do to find any other fruit flies in the area,” Ministry for Primary Industries spokeswoman Catherine Duthie said.

The male fly was found in a surveillance trap just outside the A Zone controlled area, but within Zone B, on Thursday — around 270m away from the last detection in Northcote.

Duthie said while it was disappointing to find another fly, it did show the effectiveness of the surveillance programme.

“Importantly, we still have no evidence of an established breeding population.”

All 5243 fruit fly traps in the greater Auckland area have now been checked. That includes 629 traps in the three controlled areas, which are being checked every day or every third day depending on the area they are in.