Fruit fly area freedom is vital for market access. Since 1990 it has been managed through codes of practice under national and international agreements. The standard practice is based on the deployment of static trapping grids covering orchards, towns and urban areas. The grids are relatively effective when numbers are high, but are an inefficient strategy to detect early fruit fly incursions and are becoming increasingly expensive to deploy and maintain due to the prescribed fixed distances between traps. It is also clear that many traps are currently placed in unsuitable environments for fruit flies to satisfy trap spacing regulations leading to delays in detecting incursions and requiring more expensive eradication efforts.
To better manage fruit fly incursions an improved trapping system is required. This system will deliver a cost effective return on investment while minimising the number of undetected incursions which lead to breeding populations and loss of market access in affected areas for many months or years. The challenge for this project is to develop a science based rationale that will optimise trap placement for the detection of fruit fly and take into account the differing matrices of abiotic and biotic factors that are found within Australia, while giving confidence in the effectiveness of surveillance.