Urgent PSA: For all California Fig Growers

The first alarm was sounded on the ourfigs.com forum several years ago.   Now the larvae of the Black Fig Fruit Fly (Silba adipata McAlpine) has been found from Santa Barbara south to at least Orange County.  The photo above is from Santa Monica.   If your unripe figs appear misshapen or prematurely dark or soft, please cut them open and check for larvae.

After a flurry of interest and trapping, the state and county have basically given up on trying to control this pest.  Figs are not a big-money crop in California. So it is left to us amateurs to try and figure out our options.

It is definitely worth joining the forum at ourfigs.com as its members are actively engaged in tracking the infestation and hunting down solutions.  The fly has been endemic in other parts of the world so there is some research available.