Wow! Jumping worms inside my figs !?!

[greenfig]

That was freaky for sure. I noticed a few misshapen figs that were soft on touch (they should be hard at that size). Under a closer investigation I saw a dark dot that looked like an entry point when an egg is deposited. When I cut opened the fig, I found a white worm (only one), alive and kicking. What was really freaky, when I moved it onto a plastic lid, it started jumping when I was touching it!! It would fly about 2-3 inches away and keep crawling further. I took a video, will try to post it.
This is the first year I see something like that.
Any identification and how to deal with those buggers?
I hope this is just one off ...

[peppercuts]

I observed the same thing, my tree aborted a large but immature fig. I cut it open and it had the same type of worm inside.

[peppercuts]

I am in zone 10, Berkeley CA

[aaron]

Any other signs of BFF?
Did you recently buy fresh figs or receive a new tree from SoCal?
I’m in Napa and curious about how it may have spread up here.

[peppercuts]

I can't know for sure if it's BFF but i counted 3 figs aborted with a worm inside and more aborted without signs of a pest.

[jessup42]

C’mon you never drank the worm at the bottom of the Tequila bottle?! 😁

[greenfig]

The worm in the bottle looks more respectable for sure, fat and nice
I would need to feed this one for a while, lol

[jessup42]

Alcolohol preserves so itsok. but yours could end up like the kid Who ate the slug and died. This Mexican jumping worm of you tear up your insides lol. Twas joking twasjoking 😁

[Vitooch1]

Must taste figgy and with a burst !!

[TNJed]

Yum!

[Bellefleurs]

That thing is so gross.

[iSFOfig]

LOL I knew I shouldn't have read - looked - at this post just from the title. ugh

[Forrest]

That is not cool.

[KDAD]

Be cool if you cut the worm open and found a baby fig growing in there.

[greenfig]

I think I will put a fig with a worm in a glass jar and wait until someone hatches. And then it’s going to be THE payback time !!!

[arachyd]

If you do please post pics of the beast so we know who the enemy is.

[Smokymist]

Yuck, but have seen before.

[greenfig]

Ok, found a jar with a tight seal. Will put a few deformed figs in there, hopefully someone develops into a flying creature

[JT1923]

Keep us posted!!

[greenfig]

Absolutely! We are on a verge of a discovery! Lol

[Rudy]

Did you allow for O2 exchange?

[greenfig]

I am still working on the details. Another one is the moisture inside . Too high- the fig will rot too soon, too low-it will dry up quickly

[BackwoodsSouthernLawyer]

You should get that down to the extension office to ID and such... Ick. Then again, maybe it is a Covid-modified silk worm which lives in figs and spins "silk" with Mithril/Kevlar properties. Please remember me when you buy Amazon...

[greenfig]

Geez, this will give me nightmares

[FloraFig]

One reason I don't like dried figs is because of this, and sometimes dried dates too. Worms...

And now I'm gonna be checking every fresh ripe fig.

[ieatfigs]

A cucumber worm or oriental fruit moth equivalent for figs. That's just great...

[FigMac]

Looks likely a larva in the fly family

[JT1923]

Well spotted!

[figs and tropicals]

otherwise referred to as a "maggot"....ewwwwwwwww

[FigMac]

Mediterranean fruit fly larva apparently does this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVk87DZB6NY

[greenfig]

I called my local office and someone will stop by next Monday, they don’t work over weekends

[DrDraconian]

greenfig

Did anyone ever come by your place to examine what you found? I looks like several other SoCal growers have experienced similar infestations lately, and could benefit from whatever recommendations the ag dept person may have given you.

[greenfig]

Yes! A guy came to inspect and collect what I found. He said they released a lot of sterile males and was surprised that I found the maggots. He said they would call me back if they are the medflies

[FloraFig]

I don't want to watch the video. If I do, I will never eat a fresh fig again.

But found this.

https://youtu.be/cT1WOQ0lWm4

[Evdurtschi]

Oh no!!!!! I just got back from Costa Rica and I have found several figs that look exactly like that. Large and aborted with holes and the worm. Crap. DrDraconian I guess the local ag department should be called? Any other suggestions for treating this? SO far, it is only on one tree that I can see and I have now found 3 affected figs

[DrDraconian]

Yes, I think it is probably best to notify them. They need to be aware of where the infestations are occurring, and how bad they are, to determine the best way of mitigating the potential danger to the local commercial fruit producers. I would inspect the trees and remove all affected fruit, as you have done. Probably wouldn't hurt to keep them in plastic bags so they could verify that it is indeed Med fruit fly if they want to do that. Don't just throw away the fruit or bury it, the emerging worms can still complete their life cycle in the landfill/compost heap.

Now is a particularly bad time to be spraying to try to control them, as anything you spray will also kill any fig wasps that are just beginning to emerge and pollinate your figs. Often they might just suggest bait traps to try to catch any adult flies if the infestation is small. That, and careful inspection of your fruit (not just figs by the way, citrus is a major host plant) to remove any eggs and maggots that in the process of developing, could be enough to disrupt the life cycle as needed.

[Evdurtschi]

DrDraconian Thank you. I will be very vigilant. Now that I know what to look for, it will be easier to spot and control. I definitely don’t want to spray now.

[greenfig]

Yes, call them. He appreciated my call for sure

[greenfig]

Ok, I have an update .
Good news: it’s not a medfly
Bad news: it’s much worse, it’s a rare pest that attracts to the figs only, called Black Fig Fly.

Two inspectors stopped by and checked all the figs, didn’t find anything though . They will be back with traps as soon as they figure out how to lure the flies in.

They did a DNA analysis and gave me a copy. Please see below (with names redacted ) the relevant part.

Info I found online with photos:
https://diptera.info/forum/viewthrea...hread_id=58066

[Philtopia]

This is supposed to be able to attract the BFF: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/...1984.tb03362.x

[don_sanders]

Sounds like a rough pest.

Any ideas on how widespread they are currently?

https://www.researchgate.net/publica...ogy_and_damage

[greenfig]

They said “rare”. If we set the traps and don’t catch anything that would be a good sign.
I posted a link above, here is how they look:
https://diptera.info/forum/viewthrea...hread_id=58066

[don_sanders]

Here’s hoping they don’t find anymore. Hard to tell exactly from pics but it seems like they might look similar to a regular housefly in real life. There is a couple more pics and good info in the link I posted too. A research study in Tunisia.

[greenfig]

I posted a video link below, the flies are not too small , please have a look

[JT1923]

Thanks for the update. I hope they stay rare and I never see one in person!

[claret]

Same here. Thanks Igor!

[greenfig]

Here is a link with videos that would help to spot them up

http://www.silba-adipata.fr/Mouche-n...e-ponte-2.html

[davej]

Apparently there is also an "African Fig Fly" which has also been spreading in the US.

[JT1923]

Noooooo ☹️

[don_sanders]

That one is similar to SWD and controlled the same. Not supposed to survive cold temps like here but apparently can travel far. I have seen them here before.

[greenfig]

I set a few traps on my own (the state is coming back tomorrow with their devices) and caught *something* , not necessarily a BFF .
Evdurtschi do the same. I left the bottom side with the paper on and rolled the top one up to protect the insects after the trap removal by covering the yellow sheet.

I wrote the date and time in the back, like "24June2021, 2pm PST". Probably will add my address at the end too.

[cjccmc]

Igor: FWIW, this site says: "McPhail traps baited with 2% ammonium sulfate or 0.5 to 1 ml fresh fig-tree sap were attractive for the flies. Sticky, yellow traps were not effective."
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/...1983.tb02670.x

[greenfig]

Good point! I had to start somewhere. I have enough sticky paper to experiment with plain and with fig sap too

[claret]

I can catch a Bass’s Favorite Fig with just yellow sticky paper? GREAT!