Grey Lynn fruit fly hunt: Wait on tests

A fruit fly warning sign on the corner of Sandringham Road and Royal Terrace. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Anxious Auckland residents living inside a Queensland fruit fly exclusion zone will find out today if any more of the pests have been found in Grey Lynn.

More than 90 field staff from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) spent yesterday setting fruit fly traps to determine if the Australian insect had spread in the area, following the discovery of a male Queensland fruit fly in a trap this week.

The field teams collected samples of fruit from home gardens in the area.

A mobile field laboratory was also brought into Grey Lynn to analyse the collected fruit samples and any insects found in the traps.

Results from those tests would not be known until this morning at the earliest, MPI chief operations officer Andrew Coleman said.

Residents living inside the controlled area, including Grey Lynn and parts of Western Springs, Mt Albert, Ponsonby and Kingsland, are under restrictions on the movement of fruit and vegetables.

Tight controls have been established within a 1.5km circular containment zone, which also includes a stringent inner "Zone A" within a 200m radius around the initial find.