Cherry worms (cherry fruit fly or drosophila)

Small white larvae in the fruit, soft areas, dropping fruit: flies laying eggs in the cherries.

How to recognise

• Open several affected fruits: look for a small white larva near the stone.
• Check whether soft fruits collapse at the surface (drosophila) or brown around the stone (cherry fly).

What to do

• Harvest early and often; remove all affected or fallen fruit from the orchard.
• Hang yellow sticky traps as soon as fruits turn yellow, to follow the flight.

Prevent

• Fine-mesh nets installed before the flight remain the best protection for a small tree.

Trees affected