Unfortunately, the infestation spread as the medfly reproductive cycle outpaced the spraying. It also threatened to expand its medfly infestation into the San Joaquin Valley. Unfortunately, the infestation spread as the medfly reproductive cycle out-paced the spraying. Medfly infestations are not without precedent, both in California and elsewhere in North America. A major 1981 medfly infestation cost California $40 million by itself. Much research has been dedicated to means of controlling the medfly. For example, the species "Ceratitis Capitata" (also known as the medfly) exhibits these behaviors. Medfly sightings occurred in Florida in 1997 and 2010. From then on, the medfly spread northward, reaching Guatemala in 1976 and Mexico in 1977.