Oriental fruit flies have resurfaced on Japan's main islands after being eradicated in the 1980s. Unfortunately, scores of them have been found in Tokyo and six other prefectures since April. Japan had previously managed to free itself of the insects, with the exception of remote islands, by 1986.
According to the Moji Plant Protection Station in the city of Kitakyushu, southwestern Japan, the oriental fruit flies that have recently been caught in Japan are thought to have flown from China and Southeast Asia, aided by stationary weather fronts and other conditions.
According to mainichi.jpΒΈ 84 of the pests have been caught in 21 municipalities in Kagoshima Prefecture in southwest Japan, while five of them appeared in the city of Amakusa in neighboring Kumamoto Prefecture. The first -- and so far the only -- case in Miyazaki Prefecture, also in southwest Japan, was confirmed on August 17.
