Olive juice of the pierced olive repels other females for about five days. A female may lay from 50 to 400 eggs in her lifetime. The larva feeds throughout the olive and pupates in a hollow area just beneath the epidermis or outer skin. Development from egg to adult takes 30 to 40 days. Other generations during the year follow this same pattern but the last generation larvae abandon the fruit to pupate outside the olive.
Crop losses are due primarily to larvae feeding and premature fruit drop.
Oil content and quality are seriously reduced. The larvae tunnel throughout the fruit leaving grayish white areas under the skin.