parasites. Interactions with humans Rhagoletis pomonella is a significant pest for apple crops because the species feeds on apples and lays eggs within the fruit. The hatched maggots burrow tunnels within the apples and cause them to fall prematurely and create unsightly brown spots. Rhagoletis mendax Curran or the blueberry maggot fly is a related species that is a pest of cultivated blueberries. Control Infestation of maggots damages the fruit through the formation of winding tunnels. There is no external indication of maggots, but brown trails can be seen beneath the skin. Therefore, to manage apple maggot infestation, farmers may destroy infested apples, hawthorn, and abandoned apple trees. Apple maggots may be killed by placing infested fruit in cold storage of 32 degrees Fahrenheit for forty days. Some biological control agents have not been found to be effective because apple maggots are hidden within the fruit. Sprays for control of the codling moth, Cydia pomonella, have been able to partially control the apple maggot but cannot be completely depended on for commercially accepted control. Naturally occurring parasitoids have been suggested to be used to manage the apple maggot. Opius downesi Gahan and Opius lectoides Gahan shifted from the show berry maggot to apple maggots in hawthorn, reducing apple maggot density at two study sites in Oregon, according to a paper published in 1985. See also Apple Maggot Quarantine Area References External links Popular Account Bugs of Wormy Apples, Part 2 Copyright © 1999 by Louise Kulzer Ohio State University Fact Sheet Apple Maggot Fly Traps – Ladd Research apple maggot fly on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site Apple Maggot | Washington State Department of Agriculture CHAPTER 16-470 WAC APPLE MAGGOT QUARANTINE - SOIL - Washington State Department of Agriculture Rhagoletis Agricultural pest insects Diptera of North America Insects described in 1867 Taxa named by Benjamin Dann Walsh Invasive agricultural pests