Pictured: European cherry fruit fly traps. Photo by K. Hamilton DATCP
Another Customs and Border Protection interception this season prevented the European cherry fruit fly from reaching Wisconsin, says the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
In June, CPB specialists at the Detroit Metro Airport stopped a traveler headed for Door County carrying a five-pound bag of cherries infested with live ECFF larvae and pupae.
Had the infested cherries been transported into the state, they could have become an introduction point source for a pest that is a significant threat to Wisconsin’s $2 million tart cherry industry.
The European cherry fruit fly has been reported in North America since 2016 and currently occurs in 11 western New York counties bordering Lake Ontario.
DATCP’s Pest Survey Program has been aware of the ECFF threat for the last decade and has conducted large-scale early detection surveys for it since 2018. These surveys involve setting hundreds of yellow sticky traps (refer to photo above) that attract ECFF adults. So far, all traps have been negative, and ECFF has never been found in any of the state’s cherry orchards.
See the story of how CPB specialists stopped spotted lanternfly from invading Wisconsin: https://www.midwestfarmreport.com/2025/11/15/close-calls-but-no-spotted-lanternfly-in-wi/
Learn more about the European cherry fruit fly: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/cbp-field-ops-denies-entry-cherry-chomping-fruit-fly-detroit-metro
