Every year I get little worms in my guavas and papayas. What are they and can anything be done?
These are probably the larvae of the Caribbean fruit fly. This pest is a problem on all fruits which are fleshy and which stay on the tree a long time before ripening. The fly deposits an egg just below the surface of the skin and the larvae feeds throughout the fruit as it matures. Upon maturity, a fly emerges from the fruit. The larvae are usually so numerous the fruit is inedible. Frequent and persistent appropriate sprays throughout the fruiting period will give only poor results in controlling this pest; bagging fruits with paper bags is probably more effective.
