Medfly

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Mediterranean fruit fly \Med`i*ter*ra"ne*an fruit" fly\, n.
     A small two-winged fly ({Ceratitis capitata}), a native of
     the Mediterranean countries but now widely distributed in
     warm regions, which can cause great damage to citrus and
     other succulent fruit crops when present in large numbers. It
     is black and white and irregularly banded. It lays eggs in


     ripening oranges, peaches, and other fruits; when the eggs
     hatch into larvae (maggots) inside the fruit, they cause the
     fruit to decay and fall, and make the fruit unsaleable. It is
     also popularly called the {medfly}.
  
     Note: The possibility of infestation by this and other crop
           pests has caused some states such as California, where
           fruit is a major export, to ban the importation of
           fruit from other regions. Outbreaks of infestation with
           the medfly have caused California to mobilize major
           eradication campaigns and have been the subject of
           political faultfinding. The eradication tactic, of
           releasing sterile males to break the reproductive
           cycle, has been used to deal with outbreaks of the
           medfly.
           [PJC]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  medfly \med"fly\ (m[e^]d"fl[imac]), [Often cap.]
     Same as {Mediterranean fruit fly}; -- a shortened form.
     [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  medfly
       n : small black-and-white fly that damages citrus and other
           fruits by implanting eggs that hatch inside the fruit
           [syn: {Mediterranean fruit fly}, {Ceratitis capitata}]