`ERADICATED' MEDFLY BACK IN L.A. BASIN.

Byline: Marni McEntee Daily News Staff Writer

On the same day that state and federal agriculture officials declared victory in the war against the crop-killing Mediterranean fruit fly, the enemy resurfaced in a Burbank apricot tree.

The unmated, female fly was detected in a routine monitoring trap Monday as officials were declaring an end to the two-year Medfly quarantine restricting fruit and vegetable transportation in the Los Angeles area. The find was confirmed Tuesday and announced Wednesday.

``This would not be a good day to buy a lottery ticket,'' said Larry Hawkins, spokesman for the Cooperative Medfly Project - a joint effort against the pest by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner's Office.

Leon Spaugy, Los Angeles County agricultural commissioner, said the Medfly was the first wild one trapped in the Los Angeles Basin since July 19, 1994, when one was found in San Dimas.

The basin includes parts of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties.

``It's just bad luck,'' Spaugy said.

Officials now are looking for more Medflies in the area where the female was found in the 1700 block of North California Street, near the Burbank Airport.

Additional traps will be placed in an 81-square-mile area around the first find - including 100 Medfly traps within the first square mile and traps farther apart radiating away from the nucleus. The traps will be monitored for at least six weeks.

Inspectors also will check fruit in the area for Medfly larvae. If larvae or additional flies are found in a three-mile radius, a renewal of a quarantine is likely, officials said.

``We'll read those traps as quickly as possible to determine if they are additional flies,'' Spaugy said.

He said all of the traps would be deployed by this morning.

It's not entirely unheard of to find a single fly, not signaling an infestation, officials said.

This latest insect most likely hitchhiked aboard a piece of restricted fruit brought by a traveler - perhaps into Burbank Airport, Hawkins said.

The influx of the insects in that way is nearly impossible to prevent, he said.

``It emphasizes what we have said pretty consistently: The Los Angeles area, as a gateway to the rest of the United States, is pretty much constantly under assault in terms of people bringing in fruits,'' Hawkins said.

Adding to the problem is the region's hospitable climate and current weather conditions.

The fruit flies lay their eggs in some of California's most profitable fruit crops, turning citrus, avocados and other fruit and vegetables to mush.

The Los Angeles Basin quarantine began in March 1994 after hundreds of Medflies were found in the area. A $71 million federal eradication plan involved the weekly release of sterile Medflies in hopes they would mate with their wild counterparts and produce no offspring.

The sterile fly releases were halted in February. Given the fly's 30-day life cycle, officials declared eradication when no new Medflies were found in the months before Monday, Hawkins said.

In Ventura County, an 86-square-mile, 10-month quarantine ended in August 1995, but not before the ban caused serious economic damage. The county is the state's top producer of lemons and a leading producer of other citrus.

The anti-Medfly cooperative next plans a $13.1 million prevention program in the Los Angeles Basin that will include releasing more sterile Medflies, increasing the number of border inspection stations and increasing random inspections.

Hawkins said the new find may hasten the program, especially in the Burbank area.

Monitoring traps, such as the one in which the latest female was found, will continue to be placed at a rate of 15 per square mile, Hawkins said.

Since 1981, California and the federal government have spent more than $300 million to wipe out the costly pest in hopes of preventing an international and domestic boycott of the state's fruit.