Category: SWD reports

In each of Essex, Washington and Saratoga counties, we reached first trap catch for spotted wing drosophila. At each location, a single male swd was found on a sticky card trap. Thank you to Laura McDermott and Natasha Field for monitoring those traps!

We are on schedule with first trap catches from last year.

Spotted wing first trap catch is showing up across many parts of the state this week. At highest numbers caught yet this year, we found first catch this morning in Columbia county in ripe sweet and sour cherries.

2 males were found on red sticky traps, and 4 males and 3 females were found in jar drowning traps.

One male was captured in a drowning jar trap in Rensselaer County on Sunday 6/19 in an Amelanchier (serviceberry) hedgerow. Thanks to Dale-Ila Riggs at the Berry Patch for monitoring at her farm and providing this information.

We expect SWD to be prevalent throughout most of the Capital Region soon, particularly after the ample rainfall we received last week. We will continue to provide updates as it is identified in other locations.

One of the management tactics Dale-Ila is deploying includes exclusion netting. She has been using netting and collaborating with CCE research on this practice for a number of years, with outstanding results. This type of management can provide 100% control if properly executed. Dale-Ila is currently in the process of putting up nets and hopes to have them in place by the end of the week.

Insect exclusion netting can be installed prior to the arrival of SWD to create a physical barrier between the insects and the fruit. Netting is woven polyethylene yarn, available in different gauges (i.e. hole size). Field trials have demonstrated that 80 gram netting (1.0 x 0.6 mm) is effective for exclusion, but 60 gram netting is not. Netting is 100% effective if effectively managed, meaning netting is installed before SWD arrives, no holes are present, and nets are routinely inspected and maintained throughout the season. Netting also provides protection from other damage, such as birds, high wind, and hail. For more detailed information, see Thinking exclusion? on the NYSIPM Spotted Wind Drosophila blog.

The first spotted wing drosophila of the season was trapped yesterday.

1 female was caught in a drowning jar trap in a blueberry planting in Penn Yan (Yates county).  Thank you to Anya Osatuke for checking that trap!

Fruits of susceptible crops can be attacked as soon as they begin to blush or soften. Susceptible crops include raspberries, blackberries, cherries, blueberries, peaches, and thin-skinned grapes.

Spotted wing can be managed using a combination of cultural and chemical practices. You will need to be diligent.

• Excellent sanitation will reduce SWD populations. Fruit should be harvested frequently and completely to prevent the buildup of ripe and over-ripe fruit. Unmarketable fruit should be removed from the field and either frozen, “baked” in clear plastic bags placed in the sun, or disposed of in bags off-site. This will kill larvae, remove them from your crop, and prevent them from emerging as adults.
• Cool berries immediately. Chilling berries immediately after harvest to 32° – 34° F will slow or stop the development of larvae and eggs in the fruit. U-Pick customers should be encouraged to refrigerate fruit immediately to maintain fruit quality at home.
• An open canopy and dripline irrigation will make the environment less favorable. Prune to maintain an open canopy, increase sunlight and reduce humidity. This will make plantings less attractive to SWD and will improve spray coverage. Repair leaking drip lines and avoid overhead irrigation when possible. Allow the ground and mulch surface to dry before irrigating.
• Insecticide sprays will kill SWD adults and thereby reduce egg laying. Insecticide treatments should begin at first SWD trap catch when highly susceptible fruit crops, such as raspberries and blackberries, begin ripening.
  Insecticides should be re-applied at least every seven days and more often in the event of rain. Choose the most effective insecticides with pre-harvest intervals that work for your picking schedule. Rotate insecticides according to their modes of action. Quick reference guides can be found for berries or stone fruits.

Sustained trap catch (swd in traps two weeks in a row) was reached on Monday in Clinton county. A single female SWD was trapped in a drowning jar trap in a blueberry planting on July 11.

Across the state, many SWD-susceptible crops are currently being harvested. Trap catch numbers have stayed low at all locations, but don't let your guards down until all the fruit is off the planting.

In Essex county, 4 male and 3 female SWD were trapped in drowning jar traps in a raspberry planting. In Washington county, 3 female SWD were trapped in a drowning jar trap in a tart cherry block, AND 1 female was trapped in a drowning jar and 4 males on a sticky card in a blueberry planting.

Half of the twenty two counties where we are monitoring for SWD are now at sustained trap catch.

The first SWD for 2022 from Chemung county (a single male) was trapped today July 7th in a blueberry planting. This is two months after the first trap catch overall in the state, and leaves three of the twenty two counties in which we are monitoring without a single trap catch yet this season.

Thank you to Liz Alexander for servicing this trap.

On Tuesday July 5 we reached sustained trap catch in two more counties: Onondaga and Tioga. In Onondaga, 2 females were trapped in drowning jar traps in a blueberry planting which is currently open for U-pick. In Tioga county, 3 male and 3 female SWD were trapped in drowning jar traps in a blueberry planting which will be ready to pick next week.

Many thanks to Anya Osatuke for servicing these traps!

The first SWD in Wyoming county this season was found on July 1 2022. A single female SWD was found in a drowning jar trap. Thanks to Don Gasiewicz for servicing this trap!