Anastrepha Ludens Insecta Diptera Tephritidae By James Williams

 Originates from Mexico, Central America, and from areas as far south as Costa Rica  Introduced in 1927 to Western Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and Southern California accidentally  Transported by exporting fruits from Mexico across the border and into the U.S.  It can now be found in all the areas mentioned earlier and parts of Florida

 People affect the flies by killing them.  There is no first hand affect from the flies to the humans  A second hand affect; eating the fruit bitten by the flies causes dietary restriction

 Less fruit is able to be eaten or sold to other countries  Effects on animals? Same as on humans. Dietary restriction. There is no first hand affect

SunFruit Tree Mexican Fruit FlyBats Decomposers

 No known predator of the fruit fly besides any animal that eats a fruit that is home to the fly larvae. No specific predator  The ecological balance has shifted for animals that eat the fruit. The animals’ populations have decreased.  Does not affect humans because of medical advancements

 Reasons for success; the climate is near the same in Texas and other new areas as it is in Mexico and its other homelands.  There is an excess of fruit in the new habitats of the fly.  As I stated earlier, there is no predator of the fruit fly

 To attempt to control the fruit fly, when the bug reaches pest status, exterminators set up traps to catch and kill the bugs  Options to control growth; let the insects overpopulate and destroy the fruit, or continue using the traps to control the population  The trade-offs of these decisions; if you let them live without control, most fruit is inedible. When you control the population, the government is spending money