medfly
3
9.3
- noun
- /ˈmɛdˌflaɪ/
- Specialized
:
mosca de la fruta mediterránea
- Spinosad could be used first to knock down most of the medfly population.
- medfly eggs
- sterile medflies
- medfly attack
Examples
-
Native to Africa, medflies have lived in Guatemala since at least the 1960s.
Academic text (2000) -
In California, medfly battles have cost taxpayers nearly $500 million during the past 25 years.
Academic text (2000) -
The medfly is already established in L.A.
-
Versatile and voracious, the medfly ranks as one of the world's worst agricultural pests.
Academic text (1996) -
In coffee fields, medflies lay their eggs in ripening, cherrylike fruits that house the coffee beans.
Academic text (2000) -
The bait attracts the hungry, newly hatched medflies... and poisons only them.
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Given the crisis we are now facing, with the rapid multiplication of the medfly, I am hereby ordering the spraying of the chemical pesticide Phythyon...
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Farmers in California are worried about the medfly damaging their crops.
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The medfly is a significant threat to citrus production due to its egg-laying habits.
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To control the medfly population, experts recommend using traps in orchards.
Synonyms
14
2.6
A small flying insect whose young eat and spoil ripe or rotten fruit
1
5.2
A small black and white fly whose young eat the inside of fruit
A small black and white fruit fly that lays eggs inside fruit like oranges
Surface Forms
Morphology
medfly = Mediterranean + fly (semi-transparent) = med + fly
The element 'fly' is transparent, but 'med' is a clipped abbreviation of 'Mediterranean' (which may be ambiguous or unfamiliar), so the full sense is only partly clear.
Etymology
Medfly is a short form of Mediterranean and fly. It names a small 'fruit fly' first noticed around the Mediterranean and known for laying eggs inside fruit, so the name reminds you it is a fly that damages fruit.