The California Medfly Attack

Unresolved

Unresolved Productions

True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.5 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"State officials have probably noticed an increase as well as an unusual distribution of Medfly infestation in Los Angeles County since March 1989. This was no coincidence."

The Mediterranean fruit fly, better known as the medfly, is about as unassuming as an insect can get. But the pest, native to sub-Saharan Africa, comes with enormous stakes. The medfly can infest more than 200 plant species, proving to be a nightmare for farmers everywhere. For farmers in California, though, they're an existential threat. That's why state officials treat every sighting like a five-alarm fire.

California has been fighting medfly invasions since the mid-1970s, throwing everything at them in an attempt to save their billion dollar agricultural industry. But in 1989, a strange outbreak of medflies were reported in Los Angeles and Orange counties. They appeared in clusters, as if they'd been placed there on purpose. Before long, a mysterious group calling themselves "The Breeders" claimed responsibility for this act of eco-terror...

Research & writing by Amelia White

Hosting, production, and additional research/writing by Micheal Whelan

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode contains graphic content that may not be suitable for all ages.
0:08.0	Listener discretion is advised.
0:10.0	If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available.
0:15.0	Call or text 988 or chat with someone at 988 lifeline.org. Those outside of the U.S.
0:22.6	reach out to someone at your local crisis center or hotline.
0:25.6	Please do not suffer in silence.
0:32.6	There's another national economic story today.
0:36.6	It concerns a tiny insect which is threatening the health of California's multi-billion-dollar
0:41.3	agricultural industry.
0:43.3	Today efforts got underway to try to prevent the spread of the destructive fruit fly.
0:47.3	The Mediterranean fruit fly, better known as the med fly, is about as unassuming as an insect can get. Barely a quarter inch long,
0:56.4	yellow-brown with speckled wings and iridescent little blue eyes, it doesn't look like much.
1:01.6	But as men everywhere will assure you, size doesn't always tell the full story. A single female
1:07.3	medfly can lay hundreds of eggs just under the skins of fruits and vegetables,
1:12.0	and when those eggs hatch, the larvae chew through the flesh until there's nothing left but
1:16.4	rot.
1:17.3	What starts as one tiny bug can quickly turn into a plague.
1:21.3	Native to sub-Saharan Africa, the medfly doesn't belong in the western hemisphere at all,
1:26.8	but it does have a bad habit of hitching
1:28.3	rides in luggage and on imported produce, occasionally slipping into places like Florida, Texas,
1:34.3	or California, and when it does, the stakes are enormous.
1:38.3	This isn't just some backyard nuisance.
	...

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