The red balls can be made by painting 2 to 3-inch balls red or using commercially available plastic or wood balls. These are covered with a petroleum jelly or a commercial sticky trap such as Tangle Trap. Only one or two traps are required if they are used for monitoring. Spray with the appropriate insecticide when the first fly is captured. Apple maggot fly captures made the first week after spraying are discounted because it is assumed they would have died if they had landed on protected fruit.
Monitoring is continued after the seven-day period provided no more than one inch of rain fell.
Clean the traps weekly of large insects and recoat every three to four weeks. Use of an apple volatile lure is said to increase the effectiveness of the trap. The apple maggot can be controlled with general-purpose fruit spray mixtures available under a variety of brand names at most garden supply shops and hardware stores. These mixtures generally contain insecticides such as malathion, methoxychlor and a fungicide. Prepare spray mixtures according to manufacturers directions.