One male SWD was caught in the trap closest to the woods on the edge of a blackberry planting in Saratoga County. These traps, checked on June 20, 2019, are being monitored by Natasha Field, Cornell Cooperative Extension Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program.
A male spotted wing drosophila on blackberry can be seen near the center of the photograph, while another male stretches his wings standing on a berry's stem at left.
The blackberries are still small and hard, but when they ripen, they will be at risk of infestation by SWD. So, plan accordingly!
Refer to the Cornell Guidelines, cropandpestguides.cce.cornell.edu/. Commercial growers should have the 2019 versions of the Berry Crops, Tree Fruit, or Grape Guidelines.
One female SWD was caught in the trap closest to the hedgerow next to a raspberry planting in Schenectady County. The raspberry planting is adjacent to a June strawberry planting. These traps, checked on June 20, 2019, are being monitored by Natasha Field, Cornell Cooperative Extension Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program.
Probable SWD female on a day neutral or everbearing strawberry fruit. Unripe fruit, in upper left, are not susceptible to oviposition, but ripe fruit are. Photo taken in early September, 2013.
Raspberry fruit are fully sized, but still unripe at this location. However, the June strawberry crop is ripe and harvest is underway. These strawberries may be at risk of SWD infestation. Egg laying was detected in June strawberry in Ulster County last week (reported in the First catch in Washington County blog).
One female SWD was caught in one of four traps set in a raspberry planting, adjacent to a June strawberry planting in Cayuga County. These traps, checked on June 18, 2019, are being monitored by Ryan Parker and Juliet Carroll, Cornell Cooperative Extension NYS IPM Program.
SWD female caught in Onondaga County on July 8, 2014. Note the large, sclerotized ovipositor.
Raspberries are not yet ripe at this location. However, the June strawberry crop may be at risk.
SWD distribution map for New York State, June 20, 2019.
Four female SWD were caught in two traps set on the edge of a blueberry planting in Washington County. Traps were checked on June 17, 2019 by Laura McDermott, berry and vegetable specialist on the CCE Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program.
Fruit in the planting is sizing up beautifully, but is still hard and green — unsusceptible to SWD oviposition.
While I promised to pull together management guidelines for SWD this week, the pace of field work in my program has prevented this effort. However, the quick reference guides to insecticides for SWD were updated this week. Refer to them on the SWD Management page or in the links below:
Laura McDermott and I will be pulling together a comprehensive perspective on this year's SWD management, given it's early arrival. In the meantime, for blueberry and bramble growers we now have the IPM Guides from the NE IPM Center SWD Working Group. There's lots of information relevant to other crops in these guides.
Evidence of oviposition into June strawberry found today, 20 June 2019, by Jim O'Connell, CCE Assoc of Ulster County. Notice the delicate white breathing tubes and the small area of sunken, tan tissue where the larva is inside the fruit.
For those farms growing June strawberries, which are approaching harvest or where harvest is underway, this crop will be at risk this year. Spillover of SWD from June strawberries to other crops may occur following renovation of this crop. Cull fruit left in the field will provide a resource for SWD — foodand reproduction.
It is relatively easy to use red or yellow sticky cards to monitor for male SWD in strawberry plantings or other fruit plantings. Set the sticky card traps on the edge of the planting where it is convenient to read them daily for males, which are easy to identify. Here’s one place you can order trap and lure supplies – Great Lakes IPM, www.greatlakesipm.com/.
One female SWD was caught in a trap set on the edge of a blueberry planting in Suffolk County. Traps were checked on June 13, 2019 by Faurque Zaman, CCE Association of Suffolk County and Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center.
Numbers of SWD being caught are still relatively low and fruit is not yet ripening. That said, June strawberry harvest is just getting underway in many areas and this crop may be at risk of infestation.
The SWD insecticide quick guides have been updated on the Cornell Fruit Resources SWD Management page:
Four SWD — two males and two females (on a double date in the Scentry trap?) were caught on June 12, 2019 in traps set within a raspberry planting in Ulster County. Also, a single male caught in another site in Ulster, in blueberry that day. These traps are being monitored by Jim O'Connell, CCE Association of Ulster County.
Scentry trap for SWD set in a raspberry patch.
Sustained? This is the second week in a row that SWD was caught at this site. For the SWD monitoring network, we want to see SWD caught two weeks in a row to know that the insect pest has truly arrived in an area and the trap catch isn't just a spurious occurrence.
Once we know it's sustained catch, we remove traps the following week and alert you all to focus your efforts on monitoring the crop: visually for ripeness and using salt flotation for levels of infestation.
One female SWD was caught in a trap set on the edge of a blueberry planting. Traps were checked on June 12, 2019 by Shona Ort, CCE Association of Chemung County.
Blueberry fruit have set in many locations across NY. Most fruit are still green and too hard for SWD to lay eggs in. Keep track of the ripening progress of your fruit crops.
Some varieties are still blooming. Whenever plants are still blooming, protect pollinators by avoiding insecticide use during bloom and when pollinators are active. Pollinator Network at Cornell – Grower Resources, pollinator.cals.cornell.edu/resources/grower-resources/
A carpenter bee zooms in on a blueberry flower, anxious to drink its delicious nectar. Another pollinator is working flowers in the upper right.
It's an early year for SWD, with all susceptible fruit being at risk, regardless of how early it's fruiting season is. Stay tuned to the SWD blog, and to your fruit plantings.
A single SWD female was caught in traps checked on Monday, June 10, 2019. These traps are being monitored by Michael Principe, CCE Master Gardener Program in Putnam County for the Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program.
Four female SWD, as seen through a dissecting microscope, that were caught in a Scentry trap. The inset in the middle is a close-up of a female's ovipositor.
Because numbers are so low at this site, we're going to check again for another week or so to keep tabs on SWD population growth at this location.
Review information on SWD Management and more about this invasive insect pest on Cornell Fruit Resources SWD pages.
Twelve SWD were caught in traps set in and on the edge of a raspberry planting in Albany County. Traps were checked on Monday, June 10, 2019 by Natasha Field, CCE Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program.
Probable SWD female on a day neutral or everbearing strawberry fruit. Unripe fruit, in upper left, are not susceptible to oviposition. Photo taken in early September, 2013.
This uptick in numbers is of great concern for growers of at-risk fruit:
strawberry
raspberry
blackberry
blueberry
elderberry
sweet cherry
tart cherry
peach
plum
As fruit ripens and has 100% blush, is showing final color characters, that's when SWD females have the potential to lay eggs in fruit. They prefer softer fruit. Fruit that is left hanging until it is deliciously soft and ripe — think peaches — will be at risk of infestation. Keep track of the ripening progress of your fruit crops.
Perhaps plan to harvest a bit early, for those fruit that can tolerate that in the marketplace. Plan on sanitation, clean harvests, and immediate cooling of fruit with refrigeration. Blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries will tolerate storage temperatures close to 32° F, but SWD won't!
One female SWD was caught in one of four traps set in a raspberry planting in Orange County. The traps at this site were checked on June 8, 2019. Nate Mengaziol, technician with Cornell Cooperative Extension Association of Orange County, is monitoring this site for the Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program’s network.
SWD distribution map for New York shows the counties where SWD has been reported found, as of June 8, 2019. Counties in white don't have traps , those in gray have zero catch.
This farm grows many types of fruit crops. Because trap catch in New York is early this year, many crops that typically escape injury may be at risk of infestation.
Raspberry fruit is still hard and green, but may begin coloring in the next 7-10 days.Although there is no need to treat with SWD-targeted insecticides at this point in time, for those farms where June strawberry harvest is underway, this crop will be at risk. It is relatively easy to use red or yellow sticky cards to monitor for male SWD in strawberry plantings. Set the sticky card traps on the edge of the planting where it is convenient to read them daily. Here’s one place you can order trap and lure supplies – Great Lakes IPM, www.greatlakesipm.com/.
Another approach is to routinely sample a subset of fruit being harvested using salt flotation. This method, described here on Cornell Fruit Resources' SWD Monitoring webpage, will alert you to the presence of larvae in fruit.
