Spotted Wing Drosophila

For two weeks in a row, SWD has been caught in traps set in a blueberry planting in Ontario County. Three females were caught at this site late last week. Traps at this location are being monitored by Gabrielle Brind’Amour, technician with Dr. Greg Loeb’s small fruit entomology program, NYSAES, Cornell University, Geneva. Blueberries are starting to color in the Finger Lakes region.

Yikes! This is an early build up of SWD. Please review all management practices and monitoring tactics for this insect on Cornell Fruit Resources. It will be crucial to be proactive with SWD management and fruit sampling this year.

A single female was caught in one of four traps checked on Thursday, June 23, 2016. The trap was set on the edge of a summer raspberry planting in which ripening berries were present last week.Traps at this location are being monitored by Gabrielle Brind'Amour, technician with Dr. Greg Loeb's small fruit entomology program, NYSAES, Cornell University, Geneva.

With the advent of a ripe summer raspberry crop and the presence of SWD, it will be very important to plan and carry out an insecticide program to protect berry crops from infestation by this invasive pest. A quick guide to labeled insecticides in NY for berries and their attributes, timings, and restrictions is available on the Cornell Fruit Resources SWD webpages.

Remember, a single female SWD can lay upwards of 300 eggs during her 20 to 30 day life span.

Two female and 1 male SWD were caught on June 23, 2016 in traps set in a summer and fall raspberry planting in Ulster County. Traps at this site are being monitored by Jim O'Connell, Ulster County Cornell Cooperative Extension and Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program.

Because summer raspberry was ripening at this site, 25 fruit were examined for the presence of egg laying. Only one egg was found in one of the 25 fruit. This indicates that there is a low level of fruit infestation in the summer raspberry crop.

If summer raspberry are ripe or ripening, it may be prudent to begin a management program for SWD. This year, due to the early arrival of SWD in New York, it is likely that summer raspberry will be vulnerable to fruit infestation. More information on SWD management is available on the Cornell Fruit Resources SWD page.

Two female SWD were caught on June 21, 2016 in two of four traps set in a raspberry planting in Wayne County. These traps are being monitored by Juliet Carroll, fruit IPM coordinator, and Nicole Mattoon, IPM technician, with the NY State IPM Program. Raspberries in the planting are not yet ripe. The two traps were set on the edge of the planting. Two other traps, set within the crop, caught no SWD.

Three female SWD were caught on June 21, 2016 in two of four traps set in a raspberry planting in Albany County. These traps are being monitored by Laura McDermott, extension specialist, and Annie Mills, field technician, with the Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program of Cornell Cooperative Extension. The traps that caught the SWD were set within the crop. The other two traps, set in a hedgerow of mostly sumac next to the planting, caught no SWD.

A single SWD female was caught in Niagara County on Friday, June 17, 2016 by Tess Grasswitz, IPM Specialist, and Liz Tee, Technician, Lake Ontario Fruit Program, Cornell Cooperative Extension. The trap was on the edge of a blueberry field in wild trees and shrubs. The blueberries in the planting are not yet ripe.

A single female was caught in a blueberry planting in Ontario County in a trap that is part of the SWD monitoring network on June 16, 2016. The blueberry fruit at this site is not yet ripe. This report comes in from Gabrielle Brind'Amour, who works with Dr. Greg Loeb's small fruit entomology research program at Cornell University, Geneva, NY. No other traps being monitored in Ontario County by this team caught SWD.

SWD capture was sustained this week in Suffolk County at the blueberry planting. A total of 4 SWD were caught in traps checked on June 15, 2016. Dr. Faruque Zaman, Suffolk County Cornell Cooperative Extension and Long Island Horticutural Research and Extension Center, has two traps (one set on the crop border row and one set within the crop) in each of four crops: (1) blueberry, where he has now seen sustained capture of SWD, (2) blackberry, (3) summer raspberry, and (4) grape. Only in the grape traps was SWD not caught this week.

In blackberry, both traps caught a total of five SWD. In summer raspberry, both traps caught SWD—4 females and 1 male in the border trap and 1 female and 1 male in the trap in the planting. This summer raspberry planting has <1% ripe fruit. A collection of 30 nearly ripe fruit (see picture) were examined in the laboratory for egg laying sites and none were found.

Growers, extension educators, and consultants are advised that because this is an early year for SWD arrival in New York. It will be very important to check summer raspberry and blueberry fruit for signs of SWD infestation in order to time the beginning of insecticide sprays, rather than relying solely on trap captures. For late season maturing fruit (fall raspberry, late season blueberry, elderberry, day neutral strawberry, blackberry, stone fruit and susceptible grape varieties) it will likely prove to be a very challenging year for SWD management.

 

A single female SWD was caught on June 13, 2016 in one of four traps set in a blueberry planting in Washington County. These traps are being monitored by Laura McDermott, extension specialist, and Annie Mills, ag technician, with the Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program of Cornell Cooperative Extension. Blueberries at the farm are not ripe.

This is turning out to be an early year for SWD arrival in New York State. The monitoring network will continue to service traps until SWD is caught at sites for two weeks in a row.

Farmers growing June strawberry may want to check their berries for signs of infestation. Normally June strawberry isn't vulnerable to SWD infestation, but this year's early arrival of SWD could place this crop at risk. Refer to the SWD blog, Do my fruit have SWD? or to the leaflet, Guidelines for checking fruit for SWD larvae in the field, on Cornell Fruit Resources.