In Niagara County during the week ending June 21, 2017, 2 SWD females were caught in traps set in a blueberry planting both within and on the edge of the crop. In addition, 1 female was caught this week at another site in Niagara County in a trap set within a red raspberry planting. There are four traps at each of these locations. These are the first SWD caught this season in this county. These traps are being monitored by Tess Grasswitz, IPM Specialist on the Lake Ontario Fruit Program, Cornell Cooperative Extension.
The blueberries and raspberries at these sites are not ripe. The red raspberries are starting to show color, but are still hard. The focus now should be on opening up the canopy, maintaining weed control, and mowing row middles and field edges. These tactics will improve air circulation, sunlight penetration, and improve insecticide spray deposition on fruit for when your insecticide spray program begins. More on SWD management is on Cornell Fruit Resources SWD pages.