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Probable SWD larvae have been found in ripe/overripe blueberry fruit by Stephanie Mehlenbacher, Steuben County Cornell Cooperative Extension. Although it is not possible to definitively identify SWD from its larval stage, the size and characteristics strongly point to SWD. Infested blueberry fruit will have tiny pinholes from which liquid will leak out of the berry; the pinholes are left from where the egg was laid inside the fruit. Traps for SWD are being monitored at this blueberry planting and have not yet caught SWD - this illustrates how traps compete poorly with fruit once fruit ripens.

SWD were caught in traps collected on August 26 from two raspberry plantings in Herkimer County by Bernard Armata, Herkimer County Cornell Cooperative Extension. At one location, 5 male and 3 female SWD were caught in the planting and 3 male and 1 female outside the planting. At the other location, 2 male SWD were caught in the planting and none outside the planting. A third location in Herkimer County has not yet caught SWD. All the plantings being monitored in Herkimer County are small, isolated locations. (Accumulated GDD 1888, day length 13:23)

On August 19, a trap set in a black currant planting by Paul Hetzler, Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County, caught 3 male and 1 female SWD. The trap had only been out since August 17th. SWD damage in blueberries has been seen in St. Lawrence County, with approximately 40% damaged fruit found in one planting. Last year, at this date, the same blueberry planting had 100% fruit infestation. (Accumulated GDD 1632, day length 13:48)

Female spotted wing drosophila (SWD) on left and male SWD on right. Note the large ovipositor on the female and the spot on each wing of the male.

Two male SWD were caught on August 7 in traps set in a red raspberry planting in Chautauqua County by Virginia Carlberg and Elizabeth Burgeson, Chautauqua County Cornell Cooperative Extension. With this report, SWD has been found across New York State, from Suffolk County north to Clinton County, west to Niagara County, and south to Chautauqua County. Sustained trap catch has occurred in the Finger Lakes and Lake Ontario Plains. Fruit infestation is being reported in Long Island and the Hudson Valley. Management tactics for SWD are now critically important. (Accumulated GDD 1458, day length 14:07)

Spotted wing drosophila male caught in a red raspberry planting in Chautauqua County on August 7, 2013.

A single male SWD was reared from black raspberry fruit collected from a farm in Monroe County on July 22, 2013 by Debbie Breth, Lake Ontario Fruit Program, Cornell Cooperative Extension. Traps collected this week are currently being processed, though traps set at this farm location have not yet caught SWD. Raspberries are very susceptible to SWD infestation. Oviposition can be identified, with a hand lens, magnifying glass, or microscope, by finding the tiny, white breathing tubes on the fruit surface that are attached to the eggs laid under the fruit skin.

Breathing tubes of SWD eggs as seen (red circles and inset) on blackberry fruit, magnified by a microscope. Faruque Zaman, Suffolk County Cornell Cooperative Extension, found heavy SWD oviposition on blackberry fruit (>50% of fruit examined) collected on Long Island the week of July 15.

A single female SWD was caught in a trap in Erie County by Sharon Bachman, Erie County Cornell Cooperative Extension, and confirmed by me, Juliet Carroll, NYS IPM Program. The trap was set near brambles. SWD is being consistently caught in traps in many locations in NY underlining the need to establish insecticide programs to protect late summer berry crops from infestation by this invasive fruit fly.

A spotted wing drosophila female that was caught in a trap containing an apple cider vinegar drowning solution, as seen with a dissecting microscope. Note the large, serrated ovipositor.

Two male and one female SWD were caught in one out of four traps collected by yours truly on July 30 from a sweet cherry orchard in Orleans County. Traps near a raspberry high tunnel and in a blueberry plantation on the same farm did not have SWD in them. (Accumulated GDD 1475; day length 14:31)

SWD were caught in traps collected on July 29 that were set in and near high tunnel raspberries in Tioga County by Kat Loeck, Tioga County Cornell Cooperative Extension, and identified today by yours truly. The finding of 16 females and one male underlines the need to take steps to protect berry crops from SWD infestation. (Accumulated GDD = 1336, day length = 14:29)

A single male SWD was caught on July 30 in one of two traps set in a raspberry planting in Niagara County by Juliet Carroll, NYS IPM Program. Traps had been moved from an adjacent, renovated strawberry field to the raspberry planting last week. (Accumulated GDD 1273, day length 14:31)

Two male SWD were caught in a trap collected on July 25 in a raspberry planting and one male SWD was caught in a trap also collected on July 25 in a sweet cherry orchard in Onondaga County by Julie Carroll, NYS IPM Program, Cornell Cooperative Extension. The raspberries in the planting are ripe and harvest is underway. Sweet cherry harvest is essentially complete. Sweet cherry fruit have been collected and, to date, no SWD have been reared out of the cherry fruit samples. (Accumulated GDD 1481, day length 14:41)

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