Michigan spotted wing Drosophila report for June 15, 2016

Julianna Wilson<jkwilson@msu.edu>, Rufus Isaacs and Larry Gut, Michigan State University Extension, Department of Entomology - June 15, 2016

Traps are up in all major fruit producing counties to monitor for spotted wing Drosophila (SWD), and a few are already capturing SWD flies at low levels in several regions.

Example of a trap used to attract and capture spotted wing Drosophila adults. A commercially available pouch-style lure is suspended over a soap, borax and water drowning solution. Photo: Rufus Isaacs, MSU Extension.

Michigan State University Extension fruit personnel are or will be monitoring for spotted wing Drosophila (SWD) at more than 150 different locations this season for the 2016 Statewide Monitoring Network. Starting next week, weekly reports will include the total number of male and female SWD captured by region and crop. Regionally-specific graphs will be provided that depict average trap catch and percent traps that captured SWD in a given week.

In the meantime, over the past two weeks we have begun detecting the first SWD in traps baited with commercial lures in strawberry (Berrien County), blueberry (Allegan County), and cherry (Kent, Oceana and Leelanau Counties) blocks. In general, the numbers have been low with only one or two SWD flies per trap in less than 10 of the more than 100 traps that were checked. However, ripening fruit – especially strawberries – may be at risk for infestation in these areas.

Counties included in the 2016 trapping network are Allegan, Antrim, Benzie, Berrien, Genesee, Grand Traverse, Ingham, Ionia, Kalamazoo, Kent, Leelanau, Lenawee, Livingston, Macomb, Mecosta, Monroe, Oakland, Oceana, Ottawa and Van Buren. All traps in the network are or will be baited with commercially available lures and placed in susceptible crop fields or orchards – or in a location adjacent to susceptible crops – in areas where SWD infestation has been recorded in the past.

For more information on this pest, including how to identify, monitor and manage this pest in fruit crops, please visit the MSU spotted wing Drosophila webpage.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).