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Please complete this brief survey to help us understand industry needs and guide future SWD monitoring.


Are you monitoring for SWD (Spotted Wing Drosophila) on your farm? We'd like to know! Please complete this brief survey about your SWD monitoring. https://cornell.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2iBzQU9NpKO1WKO


Traps in the SWD monitoring network are located on commercial farms, and typically serviced by Cornell Extension Personnel or grower collaborators. In addition, some growers have begun servicing their own traps, with our guidance or from reading the online resources. This survey will help us understand berry industry needs and plan monitoring for future seasons. We appreciate you taking the time to help!

2023 Monitoring Results. In 2023, the SWD monitoring network included 118 monitoring locations in 24 counties, maintained by 18 individuals. First trap captures were reported from June 13-July 20, and sustained captures a week later (sustained capture = SWD detected at least two weeks in a row). This is considerably later than average; in many years, first capture occurs in mid-May, almost a month earlier! 2023 was a brilliant example of how monitoring can be used to delay pesticide applications until insects are present, saving time, labor, and materials.

Acknowledgements. I’d like to extend a huge thanks to Dr. Juliet Carroll and the many collaborators around NY state who have provided support for SWD in this trap comparison project for the past three years, as well as the monitoring network and blog since 2013!

2023 Collaborators:

Amy Edwards, Burdick Blueberries
Anya Osatuke, Harvest New York, CCE
Dan Gilrein, Suffolk County CCE
Don Gasiewicz, Wyoming County CCE
Elisabeth Hodgdon, ENYCHP, CCE
Elizabeth Tee, Lake Ontario Fruit Program (LOF), CCE
Gary Phelps, Gary’s Berries
James O'Connell, Ulster County CCE
Janet van Zoeren, Lake Ontario Fruit Program (LOF), CCE
Jared Dyer, Suffolk County CCE
Jennifer Staton, ENYCHP, CCE
Jonny Williams, Northstar Blueberry Farm
Laura McDermott, ENYCHP, CCE
Natasha Field, ENYCHP, CCE
Nick Hamilton-Honey, CCE

Support for this work was provided by the NYS Berry Growers Association, the NYS IPM Program, and the USDA NIFA CPPM EIP Award 2017-70006-27142.

Sustainable SWD Management swdmanagement.org/

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A team of researchers across the United States is studying approaches to management of spotted-wing drosophila in organic fruit crops, with funding from the USDA-Organic Research and Extension Initiative. Their annual project webinar will be held on Wednesday February 7, 2024 at 2-3:30 pm Eastern Time. Please join the team members for this event that will update attendees on recent research and the emerging results from studies underway in various berry crops. Presenters will focus on recent efforts to release the classical biological control agent Ganaspis brasiliensis at organic sites nationwide, and will include Dr. Jana Lee (USDA ARS), Dr. Kent Daane (UC Berkeley), and Dr. Philip Fanning (University of Maine).

The webinar is free, but you must register in advance to get the link for this presentation.

The recording of this webinar is now available on the eOrganic YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIa4nTBvAxg&t=607s

The Sustainable SWD Management SCRI Project Team will be holding a virtual meeting on February 12-13, 2023 (Online via zoom). All stakeholders are invited to attend to hear research updates and provide feedback. This team has been collaborating on sustainable SWD management research and outreach for three years. The project is in its fourth and final year in 2024. Below is a detailed agenda and information to register. We hope you can join us!

FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING of the SWD SCRI PROJECT TEAM with the ADVISORY BOARD & STAKEHOLDERS
February 12-13, 2023 (Online via zoom)

Moving from crisis response to long-term integrated management of SWD: A keystone pest of fruit crops in the United States

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Specialty Crop Research Initiative

Day 1: The SWD SCRI project team will provide updates on the research objectives for year three to the advisory board members and stakeholders. We will also hear from stakeholders and advisory board members on their experiences this year.

Day 2: The SWD SCRI project team will discuss projects and protocols for year 3. There will be an opportunity for stakeholders to provide feedback/input on previous protocols as well as upcoming planned protocols.

Registration link:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YwWk-iBvRsWFw6Y--ROVhA

Registration is unique to each participant and helps us capture valuable participation data. Each participant should register individually.  

For any new participants, the previous meeting can be viewed on the project website: Sustainable Spotted Wing Drosophila Management (swdmanagement.org)

This national team of scientists, with support from the USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative, seeks to advance the development of sustainable, integrated management strategies for spotted wing drosophila, SWD, based on biology.

Monitoring is a critical part of managing SWD. Dr. Juliet Carroll and her many collaborators from around NY State have been working to provide and improve monitoring since 2013, sharing information from the SWD monitoring network in this blog. Over the past two years, our team has evaluated traps to make monitoring easier. I was fortunate to begin working with this group in 2023, as the new Fruit IPM Coordinator with the NYS IPM Program, and am pleased to summarize the result of the past two years.

As noted in a previous post, monitoring can save unnecessary sprays in a late infestation year, reducing time and labor, decreasing pesticide use, and protecting against pesticide resistance. In an early year it can also ensure adequate protection is in place, and production of high-quality fruit. However, monitoring is time-intensive and requires specialized equipment. Identifying an easier monitoring method is also critical because the SWD-network can only provide county trends, not farm-specific information. Over the past two years, a team across the state compared jar (drowning) traps with red sticky cards, to see if they are as effective at detecting SWD. Thanks to Laura McDermott, who received a Smith-Lever Federal Capacity Fund grant to do this work!

2023 Monitoring Results. In 2023, the SWD monitoring network included 118 monitoring locations in 24 counties, maintained by 18 individuals. First trap captures were reported from June 13-July 20, and sustained captures a week later (sustained capture = SWD detected at least two weeks in a row). This is considerably later than average; in many years, first capture occurs in mid-May, almost a month earlier! 2023 was a brilliant example of how monitoring can be used to delay pesticide applications until insects are present, saving time, labor, and materials.

Traps in the SWD monitoring network are located on commercial farms, and typically serviced by Cornell Extension Personnel or grower collaborators. In addition, some growers have begun servicing their own traps, with our guidance or from reading the online resources.


Are you monitoring for SWD (Spotted Wing Drosophila) on your farm? We'd like to know! Please complete this 6-question survey about your SWD monitoring. https://cornell.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2iBzQU9NpKO1WKO


Trap Comparison Methods & Results. Over the 2022 and 2023 growing seasons we compared jar and sticky traps at berry or cherry plantings across New York state. At each site, two of each trap type were placed along the edge of the berry patch or orchard, spaced 50 meters apart. Traps were monitored weekly through sustained trap capture (two consecutive weeks of at least one SWD in the trap) and the number of SWD observed in each trap was recorded.

SWD monitoring traps are available for purchase from Great Lakes IPM: https://www.greatlakesipm.com/product_search/?q=swd 

Jar traps. Scentry jar traps with lure have been used since 2016 in the SWD monitoring network. They require filling a plastic jar trap with a ‘drowning solution’ of soapy water, and attaching a Scentry lure. The trap is placed in the canopy and monitored weekly. Drowning solution must be filtered using a funnel and fine mesh, and its contents is taken to the lab to identify flies under a dissecting microscope. Research has consistently demonstrated that these traps are among the most effective and sensitive for early detection of SWD. However, the process of monitoring is tedious, time-consuming, and requires specialized equipment, and may be too onerous for commercial growers.

Photo 1: A red jar hanging in a raspberry bush. Photo 2: Jar being drained through mesh using a funnel. Photo 3: A ziploc bag containing the mesh. Photo 4: close up image of many small fruit flies clustered together on a white paper.
Figure 1: How to service a jar trap.

Sticky cards. An alterative to jar traps are sticky cards. These red cards are affixed in the canopy along with a Trécé scented lure, and are monitored weekly for SWD. The cards are examined for male SWD in the field, which are easy to identify using a hand lens or optivisor, by the characteristic spots on the tips of the wings.

Photo 1: Red sticky card in blueberry bush. Photo 2: Close up of card with dark black insects stuck to it. Photo 3: New red sticky card with white paper backing being peeled off. Photo 5: sticky card being placed in ziploc bag. Photo 5: New Red Sticky card and lure hanging in bush.
Figure 2. How to hang a sticky red card with lure. Credit: J. Carroll.

In 2022, jar and sticky trap detection dates were the same at 6 of 19 locations (31.6%), jar traps were earlier at 9 locations (47.4%), sticky traps were earlier at 2 locations (10.5%), and at 2 locations SWD was not detected (10.5%). In 2023, detection was the same for trap types at 5 of 17 locations (29.4%), jar traps were earlier at 8 locations (47.1%), sticky traps were earlier at 3 locations (17.6%), and at 1 location SWD was not detected (5.6%). Our results indicate that jar traps may detect SWD earlier than sticky traps a slightly larger proportion of the time, as long as monitoring is conducted correctly by a trained individual with access to appropriate tools. However, sticky traps detected SWD earlier at many locations, and required considerably lower input.

Two bar graphs comparing Jar Traps vs. Sticky cards, and which detected SWD earlier. Top is 2022, Bottom is 2023. Both show the Percent of traps on the y-axis. Four bars include Same Date, Jar Traps Earlier, Sticky Card Earlier, and No SWD Capture. the first and second bar are highest in both graphs.

 

We believe the two trap types offer a similar level of detection and that user preference likely plays a large role in the successful implementation. Having multiple trap types available is likely to increase the practice of monitoring, thus site-specific detection of SWD and targeted pesticide use to reduce fruit infestation and other negative consequences. Further improvements to the sticky traps (grid lines, yellow color) may make improve user-friendliness (and therefore detection) and will be evaluated in the future.

Our results in 2022 and 2023 are consistent with preliminary work in 2021 in NY, and with what teams are finding in other locations. Preliminary trials in 2021 in NY included 20 sites, in which first trap catch was compared for Scentry-lure-baited jar traps vs. Trécé -lure-baited red sticky cards. “First catch on the red sticky cards compared to the jar traps was about one week earlier at 40% of the trap locations (8 out of 20), about one week later at 45% of the locations (9 out of 20) and on the same date at 15% of the locations (3 out of 20).” This suggested that the red sticky cards work comparably to the jar traps.

The Sustainable SWD Management Team has over two years of data from locations across the country indicating that jar traps and red sticky cards offer comparable efficacy and sensitivity for early detection of SWD. Research evaluating these and other monitoring devices is ongoing. A webinar summarizing research updates on monitoring tools was shared in 2021. In addition, our colleagues in Ontario have been testing yellow sticky card traps, which may make it easier to see insects. They have been testing with and without cages, which prevent messy buildup of debris and capture of non-targets. Their results from two years of research indicate that yellow sticky cards may be as effective as red cards, and that round cages (but not flat “sleeve” cages) are effective at keeping cards clean and detecting SWD. In 2024 our team plans to include tests comparing these yellow cards to the other types of traps in NY.

Photos of yellow sticky cards hanging in a bush with a round mesh cage around it.
Yellow sticky card in round cage. Photo: Erica Pate and Hannah Fraser, OMAFRA.

 

Acknowledgements. I’d like to extend a huge thanks to Dr. Juliet Carroll and the many collaborators around NY state who have provided support for SWD in this trap comparison project for the past three years, as well as the monitoring network and blog since 2013!

2023 Collaborators:

Amy Edwards, Burdick Blueberries
Anya Osatuke, Harvest New York, CCE
Dan Gilrein, Suffolk County CCE
Don Gasiewicz, Wyoming County CCE
Elisabeth Hodgdon, ENYCHP, CCE
Elizabeth Tee, Lake Ontario Fruit Program (LOF), CCE
Gary Phelps, Gary’s Berries
James O'Connell, Ulster County CCE
Janet van Zoeren, Lake Ontario Fruit Program (LOF), CCE
Jared Dyer, Suffolk County CCE
Jennifer Staton, ENYCHP, CCE
Jonny Williams, Northstar Blueberry Farm
Laura McDermott, ENYCHP, CCE
Natasha Field, ENYCHP, CCE
Nick Hamilton-Honey, CCE

Support for this work was provided by the NYS Berry Growers Association, the NYS IPM Program, and the USDA NIFA CPPM EIP Award 2017-70006-27142.

Sustainable SWD Management swdmanagement.org/

- Anna Wallis, Fruit IPM Coordinator, NYS IPM Program

This blog was co-authored by Laura McDermott, Janet van Zoeren, and Anya Osatuke. Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program, Lake Ontario Fruit Program, and Harvest NY, respectively, all with Cornell Cooperative Extension.  

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We are excited to announce the availability of the 2023 SCRI NIFA Spotted-Wing Drosophila Management Team Webinar presented and recorded on Monday, December 4th, 2023 at 12:00pm EST. This one hour webinar, titled “Advances in Biological Control for Management of Spotted-Wing Drosophila” provides updates on biological control efforts. Researchers shared their findings as well as highlighted advancements in biological control strategies to manage spotted-wing drosophila.

The recording of this webinar is now available to view on the SWD Management Team website: Sustainable Spotted Wing Drosophila Management (swdmanagement.org)  All their webinars are on this page, swdmanagement.org/webinars/.

Please share these webinars with any other interested party and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to Cera Jones cera@uga.edu.

We hope you gain some good information by listening to our webinar!

SWD parasitoid Ganapis brasiliensis laying an egg into an SWD larva inside a blueberry.
The SWD parasitoid Ganapsis brasiliensis laying an egg into an SWD larva inside a blueberry.  Photo: K. Daane

Sponsored by: Specialty Crop Research Initiative - SCRI (Award No. 2020-51181-32140)

Sustainable SWD Management swdmanagement.org/

We also reached sustained trap catch in Niagara county this week.

1 male and 5 female SWD were trapped in a cherry orchard with ripe fruit. 1 female SWD was trapped in a blueberry planting with ripe and ripening fruits. All were trapped in drowning jar traps.

Thank you to Liz Tee for checking those traps!

This week we reached first trap catch in Franklin county, with both male and female spotted wing drosophila caught in drowning jar traps in both a raspberry and a blueberry planting. Both plantings had ripe and ripening fruits.

We also reached sustained trap catch in St. Lawrence county, with both male and female spotted wing drosophila trapped in drowning jar traps set in raspberry and blueberry plantings, all with ripe and ripening fruits.

Thank you to Ken Kogut, Nancy Alessi, and Nick Hamilton-Honey for checking those traps!

We have reached first trap catch in St. Lawrence county last Thursday July 13th.

7 female SWD were trapped in a raspberry planting, where all fruits were still green.

2 male SWD were trapped in a raspberry planting, where fruits were either ripe or ripening.

1 female SWD was trapped in a blueberry planting, where fruits were ripe or ripening.

Thank you to Nick Hamilton-Honey for servicing those traps!

We have reached sustained trap catch today in both Wayne and Ontario counties.

In Wayne county, 7 male SWD were trapped on a sticky trap and 2 male and 40 female SWD in a drowning jar trap.

In Ontario county, 10 male SWD were trapped on a sticky trap and 2 male and 55 female SWD in a drowning jar trap.

Both traps were set in ripe blueberry plantings.

Thank you to Anna Wallis for checking those traps!

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