Spotted Wing Drosophila – What We Learned in 2011

So, where was SWD found in PA in 2011?  Essentially, in every thin-skinned fruit crop in which we looked, except for spring strawberries.  Personnel in the Entomology Department (D. Biddinger and post-doctoral scholar Neelendra Joshi) set out traps in various crops in southcentral PA, and tracked movement among crops.  Within individual locations, which crops had the highest populations may have depended on what other fruit choices were available.  High populations were found in cherries, fall raspberries, and blackberries, with lower populations found in blueberries.  High numbers were also found in grapes in some instances, whereas in the Pacific Northwest (D. Walsh, personal communication) SWD larvae in grape fruit were not as big of an issue as in some other crops.  With the help of extension educators and growers, by the end of the growing season, we had set out traps for SWD in 16 counties in PA, and found it in all 16.  That’s hardly comforting.  Surprisingly, high numbers were still trapped in fruit plantings in October from which fruit had been harvested for months.  We also learned that it is easier, when examining specimens, to have them in vinegar or alcohol rather than on sticky cards. 

During the process of trapping for SWD, most people setting out traps noticed that a number of other vinegar or fruit flies had spots on their wings.  These could be differentiated from SWD by certain characteristics.  The additional species of vinegar flies that people were finding fell into three different genera. For comparison, Photo 1 is a male SWD, Drosophila suzukii.  Note the large black spot on each wing that is just a little forward of the wingtip.  An additional defining characteristic of male SWD is two black bands on each front leg.  Photo 2 is of a male fruit fly from a different genus (Scaptomyza), and was found in large numbers in strawberry plantings that had straw between the rows.  This nearly put some of us in a panic at first glance, but it is not a pest of fruit crops.  It feeds on decomposing straw or damaged and unmarketable fruit.  Photo 3 is also a species from a different genus (Leucophenga) and it is known to feed on fleshy fungi.  

The problems some growers experienced with SWD made apparent the fact that we either need to better understand and monitor for SWD, or face challenges when producing thin-skinned fall fruit crops.  Fortunately, along with Bryan Butler from the University of Maryland, we secured funding from the NE-IPM Center through an Urgent IPM Grant, which will allow us to continue monitoring efforts for SWD in PA and MD next summer, produce a series of fact sheets for growers, and present information on this pest at meetings this winter.  The first fact sheet in this series will focus on differentiating SWD from other species that are similar in appearance.  Additional fact sheets will cover information on monitoring and management. The complete series of fact sheets will be posted on the Web and will also be made available at winter meetings.  

Earlier articles on SWD monitoring and management were included in the Fruit Times (http://extension.psu.edu/fruit-times/news/2011) in May and August, with an additional article appearing in the Vegetable and Small Fruit Gazette in September (http://extension.psu.edu/vegetable-fruit/newsletter/2011-issues/the-vegetable-small-fruit-gazette-september-issue/view).  Information on SWD from the NE-IPM program can be found at http://www.northeastipm.org/about-us/publications/ipm-insights/spotted-wing-drosophila-in-the-northeast/.

Photos by Alex Surcică.