Pest Species

Mediterranean Fruit Fly

Ceratitis capitata
Mediterranean Fruit Fly

South Africa

Western Cape

Control Measure

Synopsis

  • 1996 Medfly SIT program started.
  • 1999 Sterile insect releases began in the Hex River Valley.
  • 2003- VIENNA 8 temperature sensitive lethal strain introduced.
  • 2003 Privatization of program – SIT Africa (Pty) Ltd. established.
  • 2008 Broad Area Wide-IPM program including SIT initiated in Western Cape Province
  • 2013 SIT Africa evolved into FruitFly Africa (Pty) Ltd.

Learn More

Area-wide management of mediterranean fruit fly with the sterile insect technique in South Africa: New production and management techniques pay dividends

Venter, J. H., Baard, C. W. L., and Barnes, B. N.,  AREA-WIDE INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT: Development and Field Application,  2021.
A mass-rearing facility to produce sterile male Mediterranean fruit flies, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), for a Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) programme in the Hex River Valley in the Western Cape Province started in the late 1990s. The programme was initially underfunded and ...