Month: August 2018

As of August 9, 2018, all 35 SWD trapping sites have sustained catch of SWD in the 23 counties in New York where monitoring was taking place. First trap catch across the New York State network spanned 72 days, from May 22 (Erie County) to August 2 (Herkimer County). All sites used the Scentry trap and lure.

This year brought fewer reports of severe infestations to my attention, than in 2017. It may have been the hot weather, the hot winds, the cold nights in spring, the drought. Although we saw early arrival of SWD in 2018, there wasn't the rapid, consistent build-up nor the early sustained catch as seen in 2017.

High pressure from SWD always builds in late summer. Those of us continuing to monitor SWD in berries are catching 100-200 SWD per trap in the week ending August 28. SWD is likely distributed across the state and soft, late-season fruits, such as fall raspberry, late blueberry varieties, plums, peaches, and pears may be at risk of infestation. To prevent fruit infestation now, if fruit is to remain hanging for weeks to come, susceptible fruit should be protected with an insecticide program.

Protect crops from SWD- (SWD hosts)

• late-summer-ripening raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, elderberry
• monitor for infestation in less susceptible fruits: ever-bearing strawberries, thin-skinned grapes, peaches, plums and prunes with salt flotation

Management tactics- (SWD management)

• timely insecticide sprays (berries) (tree fruit and grapes)
• rotate active ingredients—read and follow insecticide label directions.
• weed management
• canopy management
• clean picking
• remove or spray dropped fruit

Find out more about SWD on the Cornell Fruit Resources SWD pages.

Please join me in thanking those who contributed time and effort to the 2018 SWD trap network!

• Amy Ivy, CCE Eastern NY Horticulture Program (Clinton and Essex County traps)
• Bernie Armata, CCE Association of Herkimer County (Herkimer County traps)
• Dave Thorp, CCE Association of Livingston County (Livingston County traps)
• Don Gasiewicz, CCE Association of Wyoming County (Wyoming County traps)
• Faruque Zaman, CCE Association of Suffolk County (Suffolk County traps)
• Jim O’Connell, CCE Association of Ulster County (Ulster County traps)
• Juliet Carroll, Nicole Mattoon and Ryan Parker, CCE NYS IPM Program (Cayuga, Onondaga, Schuyler and Wayne County traps)
• Laura McDermott and Natasha Field, CCE Eastern NY Horticulture Program (Albany, Columbia, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady and Washington County traps)
• Peter Jentsch and Zayd Normand, Hudson Valley Laboratory (Dutchess and Ulster County traps)
• Sharon Bachman, CCE Association of Erie County (Erie County traps)
• Shona Ort, CCE Association of Chemung County (Chemung County traps)
• Tess Grasswitz, CCE Lake Ontario Fruit Program (Niagara and Orleans traps)

As expected this late into the summer season, SWD was caught a second week in a row at a blueberry farm in Herkimer County.  7 males were caught in the traps set in and around the blueberry field, during the week ending August 9, 2018. These traps are being monitored by Bernie Armata, Herkimer County Cornell Cooperative Extension.

The grower has continued monitoring for fruit infestation using salt flotation. Harvest is winding down and the farm will be closing in a few days.

If you need more information about SWD, consult the web pages listed below on Cornell Fruit Resources, www.fruit.cornell.edu, under Berry Integrated Pest Management, New and Emerging Pest Issues in Berries:

• SWD monitoring, fruit.cornell.edu/spottedwing/monitoring/ – describes what you can do.
• SWD management, fruit.cornell.edu/spottedwing/management/ – describes what you should do.
• SWD distribution, fruit.cornell.edu/spottedwing/distribution/ – describes where the CCE network is finding it.

Blueberry harvest is underway at a farm in Herkimer County and SWD hadn't been found. But that changed as of Thursday! Two male SWD were caught, one in each of two traps set within the planting, during the week ending Thursday, August 2, 2018. Two traps set on the edge of the planting caught zero SWD.

This grower will collect a fruit sample now and test it via salt flotation to see if there is an infestation. You can do this, too! Now is the time to be checking your fruit, because SWD has been found at all but one location in the New York State SWD Network. Monitor for SWD. Protect ripe and ripening fruit crops from infestation.

• SWD monitoring
• SWD management

Herkimer County traps are being monitored by Bernie Armata, Herkimer County Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Both sites in Chemung County are now at sustained catch. During the week ending July 27, 2018, 4 males were caught at one site with a raspberry and a blueberry planting, and 6 males and 2 females were caught at the other site in a blueberry planting. These sites are being monitored by Shona Ort, Chemung County Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Insecticide programs are in place now, which will suppress SWD population growth within the planting. In unmanaged locations, SWD numbers will continue increasing as approximately 10 generations of the insect develop during summer and early fall. A recap:

• SWD monitoring, fruit.cornell.edu/spottedwing/monitoring/ – describes what you can do.
• SWD management, fruit.cornell.edu/spottedwing/management/ – describes what you should do.
• SWD distribution, fruit.cornell.edu/spottedwing/distribution/ – describes where the CCE network is finding it.

Remember, the short life cycle and 10+ generations per year will make for high pressure situations in a few weeks’ time. Management, management, management…

Why does the SWD population explode?
You can do the math. Let’s think optimum conditions for SWD development. A single female can lay around 350 eggs during her lifetime, about 15 per day. The egg to adult phase of the life cycle takes as little as 6 days. So, one female in one day can result in 15 more adults 6 days later, and, during those 6 days, she will have laid another 90 eggs. 6 days after that, those 90 eggs will all be adults. Half of the 105 adults will be females, capable of laying ~350 eggs during their lifetimes…that’s 18,375 eggs or 9,187 females in about two weeks.

A typical life span for SWD is 3 to 9 weeks and there are estimated to be about 10 generations per year in the US, depending on climate. Back to the one female. Let's say that she lays 70 eggs per week and, when she dies in 5 weeks she's laid 350 eggs and, by then, about 280 of those are adults. Half of those adults, 140, are females and, by then, have laid 49,000 eggs, 29,400 of which will, by then, be adults. Half of those adults, 14,700 are females and, by then, have laid 3,087,000 eggs ...I'm lost and I probably made a mistake...but you get the idea - over 3 MILLION in five weeks from ONE (really from two, because you need a male and a female).