The larvae are monophagous, and feed exclusively on olive fruits.
Adults feed on nectar, honey dew, and other opportunistic sources of liquid or semi-liquid food.
The damage caused by tunneling of larvae in the fruit results in about 30 percent loss of the olive crop in Mediterranean countries, and especially in Greece and Italy where large commercial production occurs. The olive fruit fly is generally a serious pest of cultivated olives throughout its range, but has not become established in the United States. Olives are grown commercially in California for the fruit on a limited scale and are grown also as ornamentals. In Florida, olive trees are slow-growing evergreens that may be grown as ornamentals, but have no commercial application in relation to the fruit. Use of olive trees as ornamentals is increasing in Florida, and fruit from these trees probably could support olive fruit fly development.