Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD): No Hudson Valley Trap Captures. First find in Suffolk Co. NY

Spotted Wing Drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (SWD) is a vinegar fly native to East Asia. Established in the Eastern US since 2012, it has become an invasive insect pest of small fruit and to a lesser degree, cherry and grape. Information on insect biology.

Over the past 6 weeks we have set 16oz. red solo cup traps, baited with apple cider vinegar (ACV), as the attractant killing solution. Traps also include a yeast, flour & sugar bait mixed with water in a 5 oz. fixed position cup centered in the trap solution. To date we have not captured SWD in Orange, Ulster, Dutchess or Columbia Counties trapping in raspberry and blackberry plantings and cherry orchards. Given the small number of finds we are seeing in the northeast it would be wise to begin trapping efforts in earnest. Trapping instructions.

In depth information on the first SWD find in NY – Suffolk Co.

The first two female SWD of the 2014 growing season were captured over the week of July 3 to 9 in traps monitored by Faruque Zaman, Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center, Suffolk County Cornell Cooperative Extension in a yeast-baited trap at a ripening raspberry location in eastern Long Island.

On July 9, examination of 40 fruits found 2 SWD-infested raspberries with egg-laying sites at that location. The raspberry field is surrounded by grapes on one side and blackberries on the other side; no adjacent forest boundaries.

No SWD have been captured in traps placed in other locations in Suffolk County, including blueberry, blackberry, grape, forest and a second raspberry site and no fruit infestation was found in raspberries collected from the second site.

The Cornell Spotted Wing Drosophila web site hosts a map of the counties in which SWD is being trapped. Updates on presence based on trap findings can be found here.

Conventional Management Options:
Insecticides labeled in NYS to manage SWD