Pepper Maggots, appropriately named, as they are maggots found in capsicum. You may be reading this article because you have found maggots in your pods or found pods on your plants that are rotting and wondering what to do.

The issue with Pepper Maggots is that by the time you find them in your pods on the bush or when you are busy processing your chillies to make sauce, there is not much you can do with them. Damage sustained form Pepper Maggots can be devastating.

In case of Pepper Maggots, “prevention is better than the cure” is definitely the case. Pepper Maggots have to be tackled before the season begins.

Pepper Maggots are incredibly destructive as they are not easily noticed and their damage renders pods unusable. No one wants maggots in their food. Most farmers will have to destroy tons of peppers if not caught early.

The Pepper Maggot Fly (Zonosemata Electa) is a type of Fruit Fly. An unassuming type of fly, with attractive yellow and brown stripes on its thorax and abdomen. Many growers will be forgiven for thinking these are Hover Flies, Flies or Bees… as they all look very similar. Unassuming, as they are just flies – right? Also, very difficult to spot in the field, hence we have not yet captured a picture of the fly for this article (sorry). As it’s name suggests, it feeds almost exclusively on Capsicum, but may also target other plants in the Solanaceae family of plants.

Flies emerge from the soil in fields early to mid grow season when the pepper plants start to fruit. Flies are difficult to spot, but can be picked up with a keen eye that knows what to look for. They can be seen mating early season. While the fruit are still green, the Pepper Maggot Fly will inject a single egg into the fruit, closest to the stem. Sometimes multiple Maggot Fly injections will be found on one pod. After about a week (give or take), the Pepper Maggots will emerge from the eggs inside the peppers. Up until now, the Pepper maggot flies have been very stealth like and it will take a keen eye to spot the Flies, let alone the minute injection sites on the pods. But this is the trick to combating Pepper Maggots, spotting signs of their activity early in the pepper patch. Not all growing areas will be infested with Pepper Maggots. In fact, you may be lucky enough not to have any Pepper Maggots where you are. If you do, they may be highly localized or in severe outbreaks infest an entire field.

The Pepper Maggots will feast on the inside of the peppers, consuming most of the fruits placenta and flesh from the inside. The first real visible signs of Pepper Maggots being active is the signs of pepper rot. Soft, discoloured, water soaked areas on the peppers outer surface can be spotted easily. This is usually where pepper maggots have eaten away the flesh of the pepper just underneath the skin. Followed by progressive rotting of the fruit. Most pods that reach full ripening will be rendered un-sellable/unusable due to rot and internal damage. Not to mention, maggot infested.

Once maggots have eaten body weight in pepper flesh, they will bore a hole to exit the pod and fall to the ground, where they will pupate and the life cycle begins all over again when flies emerge. Exit holes that maggots leave in the pods, very often become entry points for water and pathogens which further exasperates the decay of the fruit.

In northern hemisphere climates, Pepper Maggots have one life cycle given the short growing seasons. But, in South Africa, given our long growing seasons, Pepper Maggots are able to have multiple life cycles in one season. Usually early spring and in autumn again before winter sets in.

Pepper Maggots can be extremely destructive and very difficult to combat due to being difficult to detect. But, with early detection they can be managed. If you know you have had issues with Pepper Maggots the season before, be prepared and tackle the problem early season before the Pepper Maggot Flies emerge from the soil. There are a number of products available that will help with the fumigation and drenching of the soil that will target Pepper Maggots while in pupal stage before they hatch. Here are a number of things you can do to combat Pepper Maggots:

• Fumigate/Drench soil with insecticides which are targeted for Fruit Fly.
• Keep an active look out for early signs of Pepper Maggot Flies on plants and in the field. Look for flies early season when they congregate to mate. Sticky traps, fly traps and sprays are all options.
• Keep an active look out for injection sites early season when pods are setting. Spraying of plants is an option.
• Once advanced signs of maggot activity become visible later in the season, it is essential to remove any damaged pods showing signs of rot from the plants as well as off the ground. This will help greatly to mitigate another cycle.
• Keep an eye out for secondary pathogens. Often, rotting fruit will give the ideal environment for pathogens to spread. Again, keep removing rotting fruit from the plant/field. On larger operations, this may not be possible, but certainly for the home grower.
• Due to the potential financial loss growers can sustain, certain growers may try to sell the best looking pods to recoup some money. This however exasperates the issue as Pepper Maggot infested pods will be shipped across the country. This only aids spreading Pepper Maggots to previously Pepper Maggot free zones.

Consult your garden centre, nurseries and online agricultural shops for advice on Pepper Maggot solutions. If you have had Pepper Maggots before in the field, it is highly likely that you will get them again. Be prepared and act early!

On a side note: Growing peppers and superhots in South Africa has become big business. Specialist growers growing superhots, demand extremely high prices per kilo for superhots. If you have purchased your peppers from a supplier or grower and they are infested with Pepper Maggots, take them back to the supplier and request a refund. As a customer you have rights. Pepper Maggots are avoidable and this onus rests on the grower taking action to prevent Pepper Maggots in his produce.