[1] In the final years of the 18th century, Italian scientist Giuseppe Maria Giovene (1753–1837), in his work Avviso per la distruzione dei vermi che attaccano la polpa delle olive (1792), provided some suggestions for peasants to effectively destroy the fly musca oleae, which infested the pulp of olive trees.

[4] It is considered the most serious pest of olives in regions where it lives, significantly affecting both the amount and quality of production in most olive-growing areas.

The egg is around 0.7 to 1.2 mm long, elongated, and slightly flattened in its stomach, with a small, white microfleece nodule, which is important for the respiration of the embryo.

The pupal stage takes place inside the puparium, an elliptical shell formed by the last exuvial transformation of the larva.

In Italy, they are easily recognized in conjunction with other Tephritidae for the small dark spot at the apex of the wing and the length of the narrow, elongated anal cell.

The abdomen is light brown with variable colourings: typically there are pairs of blackish spots on the first to fourth urotergit, which often come together in bands.

The newly hatched larva initially digs a tunnel on the surface, but later moves deeper into the flesh to the core, which is not affected in any way.

In late autumn and winter, its behaviour changes; the mature larva emerges from the olive and drops onto the ground, where pupation takes place.

Given ordinary climatic conditions, low temperatures and harsh winters clearly interfere with population dynamics only in the northernmost areas of olive vegetation.

The ethology of the fly has been paid particularly regard in recent years when analysing study control methods based on the use of prior insect repellents (copper, kaolin, etc.).

In table olives, in fact, mortality of the larva is lower in summer because they can escape the lethal effects of high temperatures by migrating deeper.

Unlike other species, the succession of generations of the Bactrocera oleae is not markedly different for the scaling of ovipositioning and longevity of adults.

The population size varies throughout the year, but with two peaks: the first in the middle of spring, at the development of the winter generation of adults, and the second, more intense, in early autumn when the olives are at the highest degree of receptivity, the temperatures drop slightly and the climate becomes wetter.

From a quantitative point of view, the damage is caused by larvae of second and especially third stages, by the removal of the significant proportion of the pulp which as a consequence results in reduction in the yield of olives.

A qualitative aspect to be considered is the significant deterioration in the quality of the oil extracted from olives with a high percentage of attacks by larvae of the third stage.

Secondarily qualitative impairments of varying severity derive from the olive fruit fly attacks due to the arrival of mold through the eclosions.

This deterioration in quality is evident in significantly flawed oils obtained from olives harvested from the ground or stored for several days before pressing.

Few natural enemies prey on the olive fruit fly, but they can play a significant role in containing populations in biological and integrated pest control.

), providing other scientific names proposed by different authors in dialect: It follows a detailed description of all stages of the lifecycle, focusing on the larvae and the damage caused by them.

Among the organic insecticide literature, rotenone is also mentioned, but the use of this active ingredient, not readily available, must be authorized by established competent bodies after demonstrating the need for it.

This can be estimated each week by noting the trend of the population of adults with the use of traps for monitoring or detecting the number of active infestation (bites and fertile mine of larvae I and II age).

To be reliable, the system first requires a suitable response in the trial, because the intervention thresholds vary depending on the type of trap and the environment.

Recently, the introduction of ready-made protein baits containing Dow Agrosciences Spinosad®biological insecticide also are authorized in organic farming.

Copper, although a pesticide, was found to exert a repellent effect against flies; the females turn their attention instead to oviposition on untreated olives.

The basis for this action would be the advance biocidal effect of copper against the symbiotic bacteria, interfering with the physiology of the digestive system of the larvae.

Biological pest management control, carried out so far with experiments on the Opius concolor, for now, offers only partial results and in any case is particularly costly.

It therefore pays for pest management programs in the area, while not offering excellent results if done at enterprise level, especially on limited foundations.

These traps have been carried out, mass-trapping for over a decade with about 130,000 plants in Sardinia with results comparable to those obtained with the adulticide treatments using the protein bait.

[12][13] The Ecotrap is triggered by using a form of double attraction: the pheromone of the olive fruit fly and the ammonium bicarbonate, with biocidal action carried out by deltamethrin.

Despite the limited series of tests carried out in recent years in some areas of the Mediterranean regions, the results are judged to be positive.