Cherry Fruit Fly / Cherry Maggot: Appearance, Territory, Damage and Life

Latin Name: Rhagoletis Cerasi

Appearances: The mature cherry fruit fly measures between 3.5 and 5 millimeters in length. It has a black body with yellow markings on the head and thorax, as well as translucent wings with a dark, bluish-black striped pattern. White eggs with a diameter of 0.25 mm and a length of 0.75 mm.

Adult – Smaller than a house fly, with a black body and yellow markings towards the base of the wings, as well as white stripes across the abdomen. The black spots on the pest’s wings help to distinguish it from other fruit flies.

Host Plants: Hawthorn, apple, plum, cherry, and pear are examples of fruits. Western Fruit fly, cherry Pupae can overwinter in the soil and remain dormant for up to three years. Adults appear around May and stay until August. Adults put their eggs in cherries that are still maturing.

Territory: Rhagoletis cingulate (Loew) is a cherry fruit fly that can be found from Michigan to New Hampshire and southward to Florida, spanning the whole middle and eastern United States as well as southeastern and southcentral Canada.

Damage Caused: In May, cherry fruit flies lay their eggs on maturing cherry fruit. When ripe, damaged fruit appears shrunken and shriveled, and normally contains one off-white larva (maggot) measuring less than a quarter of an inch in length. The amount of damage caused by cherry fruit flies fluctuates substantially from year to year.

Life Cycle and Habits: The eggs hatch in 5 to 8 days, and the larvae burrow into the fruit’s pit, where most pesticides can’t reach them. They bore their way out of the cherries and drop to the ground when fully formed, 10 to 21 days after hatching. They burrow into the soil to pupate within a few hours. Maggots burrow into decomposing debris and molt within a week. Larvae travel to a dry place and develop into pupae after five to six days. Adult fruit flies emerge a few days later.