Why Wild May Works – Queensland Fruit Fly Prevention

Dec 10, 2022 | Gardening tips

Preventing Queensland Fruit Fly destroying your fruit and vegies

Wild May works because ‘teenage’ male Queensland Fruit Flies (QFF) cannot produce the pheromone needed to attract females without first taking it in from an outside source. Wild May and a few flowers – such as passionfruit flowers – are that source. When they enter the lure and sample it, they drown whereas if they get it from a flower source they can then attract a mate and go on to breed.

This is perfect weather for a population explosion – warm, moist and humid. When it’s above 16 degrees at sunset, males and females mate – that is now!

Remember to top up your Wild May lures weekly. Wild May should be deployed from 1 September.

Buy Wild May and lure bottles through the Sustainable Macleod website shop at cost price ($12 – less than half recommended retail price). We only have 15 bottles left at this price.

Net now

Buy net from Bulleen Art and Garden off the roll. It’s quite cheap and it’s wide.

Make sure you weigh the net down at the base.

Tomatoes, capsicums and chillis must be netted to prevent infestation.

Disposal of infected fruit
It is essential to dispose of infected fruit safely so that QFF don’t breed.

Do NOT put infected fruit in the compost! This is an ideal breeding ground.

Do:

  • Solarise – place fruit in a double black plastic bag tied at the top and place in the sunniest spot in the garden to ‘cook’ (against a brick wall is excellent) for 7 days.
  • Cook – boil, microwave or bake contaminated fruit.
  • Drown – weigh down the fruit in a lidded bucket, so it is not above water, for 2 weeks.
  • Freeze – for 24 hours.

THEN DISPOSE OF DEAD FRUIT IN THE NORMAL WASTE BIN. In Banyule City Council areas, that’s the one with the red lid.

Written by Robin Gale-Baker