Fruit fly damage and its biology

Bactrocera dorsalis can be recognized by a predominantly black scutum with lateral yellow stripes; black oval to spherical large facial spots; 2 setae in the scutellum; black T-shaped mark on the abdomen and wings with a dark brown costal band and oval streak.
The damage to the fruit is caused by the abortive stinging and ovipo-sitional punctures by gravid female fruit flies. Passion fruits are attacked when raw, hard thickened areas develop around ovipositional punctures and such fruits become malformed and usually drop prematurely. Similarly coorg mandarins are stung by the female flies when still green, colouring later develops around the ovipositional punctures. Mango, papaya, banana and several other fruits become attractive to female fruit fly as they ripen. The fermenting organisms (bacteria and fungi) gain entry through these punctures and the fruits start rotting.

The hatching maggots feed on fruit pulp for 6-29 days and destroy it, converting it into a bad smelling, discoloured semi-liquid mass unfit for human consumption and marketing. The fruits develop brown rotten patches on them and fall to the ground. The ingestion of maggots by human beings could cause abdominal pain and even diarrhoea in some individuals