The oriental fruit fly detected for the first time in Veneto

For the first time in Veneto, the oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) has been detected, an insect classified by the EU as a priority quarantine pest. The specimens were identified in Favaro Veneto, in the municipality of Venice, as part of the 2025 monitoring. The catches were concentrated between 17 July and 18 November, with a dynamic compatible with four successive generations and an estimated diffusion in a radius of approximately 10 kilometres.

The Veneto Region has started a two-year project with the Department of Biotechnology of the University of Verona, which will last until 31 December 2027 and is worth 132 thousand euros, to verify the actual size of the population, monitor its possible spread and reconstruct its origin through genetic analysis. An infested area with a radius of 500 meters and a buffer zone of seven kilometers will be identified around the outbreak. Monitoring will also focus on ports, airports and agri-food centers.

The species is already present in Campania and Emilia-Romagna. "This is not the time to create alarmism, nor to underestimate the phenomenon", underlines councilor Dario Bond, according to whom we need to "understand precisely and in the shortest possible time whether we are faced with an occasional introduction or the presence of a population that is attempting to settle permanently".