The worms you are seeing inside your fruit are the larvae of the Papaya Fruit Fly. Commonly mistaken for a wasp due to its size, coloration, and behavior, the papaya fruit fly is yellow, marked with black. The female, 1/3” to nearly 1/2” in length, has a very long, slender abdomen with a curved ovipositor which exceeds the length of her body. It is through this ovipositor, or needle-like injector, that the eggs are laid into fruit.
The female is capable of producing 100 or more eggs, depositing them into immature fruit. Fruit infected with papaya fruit fly larva will turn yellow and drop from the tree. Up to 30% of the fruit can be infested during the spring-summer season.

The young larvae, or worms, feed on developing seeds inside the fruit. As the larvae mature, they begin to eat their way out of the fruit, drop to the ground beneath the plant and pupate just below the soil surface. Flies emerge in about two to six weeks and the cycle continues, as the adults mate and seek fruit in which to lay eggs.

Control of the fruit fly may be achieved by mechanical protection, such as the use of paper bags. Each fruit may be enclosed in a 3-5 pound size bag tied around the fruit stem. Newspaper, one-half sheet (about 12-15 inches in size), may be rolled to enclose the fruit, then tied around the fruit stem, and also the free end. Bagging should begin when the fruit is small, shortly after the flower parts have fallen off. Although bagging the fruit is the most certain method of control, it is labor-intensive and requires attention every 10 to 14 days to keep the young fruit covered. Also, this procedure could injure some of the fruit unless handled carefully