Update on European Cherry Fruit Fly

Posted on by mrb254

Update on European Cherry Fruit Fly

By Janet van Zoeren, LOF, Anna Wallis, NYSIPM

Updated from article by Janet van Zoeren, LOFT, Juliet Carroll, NYSIPM and Art Agnello, Cornell AgriTech

European cherry fruit fly (ECFF, Rhagoletis cerasi) is a non-native relative of our native cherry and black cherry fruit flies. It is considered a quarantine pest in the United States, and as such, must be managed and controlled according to specific state and federally mandated guidelines.

Updated information about this pest is available on the NYSIPM ECFF Factsheet website and on the NYSDAM Website.

Detections were made during the 2023 season in Wayne, Cayuga, Monroe, Niagara, Erie, and Orleans counties. All were identified in unmanaged environments, i.e. wild hosts.

Quarantine areas continue to include Erie, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, and Wayne Counties in their entirety. The quarantine area previously included a small section of the northwest corner of Ontario County, and further described as within a 10-mile radius of latitude 43.14855611 and longitude 77.52162045 (the City of Rochester, Monroe County, NY).

***In addition, the quarantine area was expanded on May 13, 2024 to include all of Cayuga, Genesee, and Ontario Counties, New York.*** This quarantine does not include the Cattaraugus, Tonawanda, and Tuscarora Indian Reservations or the Cayuga Nation. The 5,140 square mile quarantine contains 1,421 acres of commercial cherry production.

The expansion of the quarantine is in response to the confirmed detections of eight adult ECFF in Cayuga County between June 27 and August 16, 2023, one adult ECFF in Genesee County on June 2, 2023, and one adult ECFF in Ontario County on July 20, 2023.

More information about the quarantine updates can be found on the APHIS fruit fly website https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant-pests-diseases/fruit-flies/regulations-quarantines, and in the notices issued on May 13 https://www.aphis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/ecff-niagara-erie-monroe-wayne-county-ny-description.pdf and June 3 https://www.aphis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/da-2024-18.pdf. It has also been published in the Federal Register.

The current quarantine procedures for ECFF, for all growers inside the quarantine area include:

  • All fresh cherries sweet or tart that will be moving outside the quarantine area must be from a block that has undergone an enhanced float test conducted by NYS AGM. The enhanced float test must be conducted 1-5 days prior to harvest and will be good for 14 days from the time of the passed float test. If harvest will not be complete within 14 days another enhanced float test must have another test conducted and passed before cherries are harvested to leave the quarantine area. A certificate of inspection will be issued to all blocks tested that pass the enhanced float test. Any cherries from a block that passed an enhanced float test within 14 days of the time the float test was conducted will be allowed to be sold outside the quarantine area under limited permit.
  • Processed cherries: the below mentioned spray program is not required if cherries are sold to an approved processing facility, if a compliance agreement is signed, and limited permit issued by the NYS AGM.
  • Under no circumstances may cherries be sold from the quarantine area into Columbia or Ulster counties within New York, or to the states of California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, or Washington.
  • No cherries may be transported to the state of Michigan without prior approval of the Michigan Dept of Agriculture and the USDA.
  • If it is a cherry orchard block that is a mix of cherries sold fresh and cherries sold directly to a processing facility, then an enhanced float test must be conducted by NYS AGM.
  • Cherries shipping to Pennsylvania for processing must have a standard float test prior to leaving the quarantine area of NYS. Float test must be conducted at approved facility that is under a compliance agreement with NYS AGM and protocols for standard float test must be followed. Float test documentation must accompany cherry shipment. Cherries must pass standard float test to be shipped to Pennsylvania for processing.
  • Cherries from U-Pick blocks do not need a float test.
  • All cherries going to auction houses regardless of the location of the auction house must be from a block that has passed an enhanced float test not more than 14 days old.

What this means for you. If you are a cherry grower within that quarantine area (Niagara, Orleans and Erie counties), you need to be very careful this year to continue to keep a tight, 6-10 day interval spray schedule throughout the summer, using products in the approved Effective NY ECFF Systems Approach Insecticides for New York Cherries – Quick Guide available on the CCE LOFT Fruit Fly webpage. Mustang Maxx recently received a Special Local Needs label for use in NY against ECFF and SWD with a shorter PHI of 3 days. It is critical to keep ECFF out of any fruit, and better to keep them out of the orchard altogether.

Questions about the quarantine or the approved pesticide list can be directed to myself (Janet van Zoeren, jev67@cornell.edu) or to Michael Dorgan at NYS DAM (Michael.Dorgan@agriculture.ny.gov). Growers, sellers, and wholesalers who are unsure where their harvest fits should contact Patty Sierzenga (NYS AGM) at 585-370-1606 or patricia.sierzenga@agriculture.ny.gov.

You can also learn more about ECFF and our native fruit flies, as well as how to combine a management program to address these Tephritid fruit flies as well as SWD, by watching the recording of our recent webinar, Summer Insect Management in Cherry, organized by LOF and NYS IPM, available online at our YouTube station.