Spotted Wing Drosophila

On July 7, 2016, one female SWD was caught in traps set in blackberries in Saratoga County. The blackberries at this location are just starting to color, raspberries are ripe, and June strawberries are done. These traps are being monitored by Annie Mills, technician, and Laura McDermott, Extension Educator, with the Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program (ENYCHP), Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Seven male and 5 female SWD were caught on July 6, 2016 in two traps set in a hedgerow on the edge of a June strawberry planting in Rensselaer County. These traps are being monitored by Annie Mills, technician, and Laura McDermott, Extension Educator, with the Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program (ENYCHP), Cornell Cooperative Extension.

These traps are near a blueberry planting that is covered with exclusion netting. To date, no SWD have been caught in traps set inside the netting.

This is a fairly large number of SWD—13 total caught in the traps at this location. SWD populations are building up in this vicinity. This could be taken as a sign that populations in many locations may build up soon.

Growers should take steps to protect vulnerable fruit with an insecticide program that rotates active ingredients to prevent insecticide resistance devloping in SWD, sanitation measures to remove fruit debris and over-ripe fruit that serve as food and egg-laying resources for SWD, and establishing a cold chain after harvest, i.e. refrigerating harvested fruit to stop/kill SWD in fruit. More on SWD management is on Cornell Fruit Resources.

Two female SWD were caught on July 2, 2016 in traps set in Erie County in a raspberry planting. The traps are being monitored by Sharon Bachman, Extension Educator, Erie County Cornell Cooperative Extension. There may be more SWD in the trap contents, but time has only allowed Sharon to screen a portion of the traps; enough to get this first find report out.

Sustained trap catch reports (SWD caught in traps two weeks in a row) have come in from six locations this week.

• Yates County on July 1, 2016 - sustained catch in a raspberry planting with no fruit infestation found via salt flotation, reported by Gabrielle Brind'Amour, Greg Lob's program, Dept of Entomology, NYSAES.
• Cayuga County on July 6, 2016 - sustained catch (3 females) in a summer raspberry planting with harvest underway, reported by Nicole Mattoon and Juliet Carroll, NYS IPM Program.
• Livingston County on July 6, 2016 - sustained catch (1 female) in a blueberry planting without ripe fruit, reported by Dave Thorp, Livingston County Cornell Cooperative Extension.
• Schuyler County on July 6, 2016 - sustained catch (5 females) in a summer raspberry planting with ripe fruit, reported by Nicole Mattoon and Juliet Carroll, NYS IPM Program.
• Tioga County on July 6, 2016 - sustained catch (1 female) in a fall raspberry planting adjacent to low tunnel strawberries, reported by Margaret Ball, Tioga County Cornell Cooperative Extension.
• Ulster County on July 6, 2016 - sustained catch in a summer raspberry planting, reported by Jim O'Connell, ENYCHP and Ulster County Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Two female SWD were caught in traps in Tioga County on July 1, 2016. The traps are set in a fall raspberry planting near low tunnel strawberries. These traps are being monitored by Barb Neal, Master Gardener, and Margaret Ball, Extension Educator, Tioga County Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Please join me in welcoming Margaret to Cornell Cooperative Extension!  She was just hired this month and has immersed herself in a whirlwind of SWD early arrival and trap monitoring; all during the week of the Tioga County Fair!

Clearly, 2016 is going to be a very challenging year for summer and fall raspberries, blackberries, elderberries, blueberries, and other fruit crops vulnerable to SWD infestation. Look to Cornell Fruit Resources for SWD management information.

A lone female SWD was caught in one of two traps set in a small blueberry planting in Livingston County. Traps are being monitored by Dave Thorp, Livingston County Cornell Cooperative Extension Association, and were checked on July 29, 2016.

Early blueberry varieties in Western NY are just barely blushing with color; only one or two berries per cluster are blue. The crop is not yet ripe.

Six female SWD were caught in all four traps set in a summer raspberry planting, two within the crop and two on the edge of the planting. The traps were checked on Wednesday, June 29, 2016. Traps at this location are being monitored by Nicole Mattoon, technician with Dr. Juliet Carroll’s fruit IPM program, NYS IPM Program, Cornell University, Geneva. Summer raspberry harvest is beginning in this region.

A fruit sample of 25 ripe fruit was collected from within the planting, and whereas no evidence of eggs or larvae were seen via microscopic examination of the fruit, four eggs but no larvae were found via salt flotation. This underlines how important it will be to practice sanitation, refrigerate harvested fruit, and plan an insecticide program this year to protect vulnerable fruit crops from SWD infestation!

One female SWD was caught in one of four traps set in a raspberry planting in Schuyler County that was checked on Wednesday, June 29, 2016. Traps at this location are being monitored by Nicole Mattoon, technician with Dr. Juliet Carroll’s fruit IPM program, NYS IPM Program, Cornell University, Geneva. The summer raspberries are beginning to ripen in this planting.

A fruit sample of 25 fruit was collected near the trap that caught the single female SWD. No evidence of eggs or larvae were seen via microscopic examination of the fruit, nor were any eggs or liarvae found via salt flotation.

This year, with the early arrival of SWD, an insecticide treatment program that incorporates rotation of active ingredients will be essential to avoid insecticide resistance developing in this insect.

For two weeks in a row, SWD has been caught in traps set in a raspberry planting in Wayne County. SWD was caught in all four traps set in the planting, two within the crop and two on the edge of the panting. Four female and one male SWD were caught at this site in traps checked on Monday, June 27, 2016. Traps at this location are being monitored by Nicole Mattoon, technician with Dr. Juliet Carroll’s fruit IPM program, NYS IPM Program, Cornell University, Geneva. Summer raspberry harvest is beginning in this region.

A fruit sample of 25 fruit was collected near the edge trap that had caught a single female SWD the previous week. No evidence of eggs or larvae were seen via microscoic examination of the fruit, nor were any eggs or larvae found via salt flotation. However, it is only a matter of time before the females mate and are ready to lay eggs in the ripening crop!

Please review all management practices and monitoring tactics for this insect on Cornell Fruit Resources. It will be crucial to be proactive with SWD management and fruit sampling this year.