The Caribbean fruit fly (Anastrepha suspensa) is another fruit fly pest of fruit trees. Sometimes called the ‘Caribfly’, this fruit fly is common throughout southern and central Florida. They are not as serious of a pest as the Mediterranean fruit fly or the Oriental fruit fly, partially because the Caribfly females do not lay as many eggs (approximately 200 eggs per female, compared to up to 800 per female Medfly and 1,500 in Oriental fruit flies). If you grow guavas, roseapples, or Surinam cherries, you may have more of a problem with these flies on your trees. They may also attack citrus crops if the fruit is overly ripe.

The Caribbean fruit fly is a large (12-14 mm) yellow-brown fly with dark brown wing bands. They look similar to the Mexican fruit fly, another fly in the genus Anastrepha, but Mexican fruit flies have a much longer ovipositor and pale yellow wing bands. You can learn more about the Caribbean fruit fly in this Featured Creatures article by Weems et al. (2001).

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