Bactrocera musae (banana fruit fly).

Abstract Bactrocera musae is native to northeast tropical Queensland, Australia and mainland Papua New Guinea. It is thought to have been introduced to some Papua New Guinea islands including Lihir and Manu. Early records from the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Indonesia are either unconfirmed or unreliable. B. musae is a pest of commercially grown bananas if not managed correctly and also infests native bananas. Females tend to lay eggs in bananas before they ripen. However, if the fruit is too immature the eggs do not develop. Under Australia's Interstate Certification Assurance, domestic trade of hard green Cavendish bananas is approved to manage the risk of fruit fly movement. Monitoring of population sizes can be carried out using methyl eugenol to trap adult males. Increased host fruit sampling can also determine breeding hotspots that can then be targeted with protein bait spray/insecticide mixture to kill females. Female flies are attracted to the protein baits as they require protein for egg maturation. Though the economic impact of this pest is high, the risk of international spread remains low due to the stage of maturity of the harvested fruit that is exported.