Spotted wing drosophila update, August 14-21, 2019

This post contains a summary of trap counts for Aug 14-21, 2019.  The numbers reported are number of SWD per trap.

The regional monitoring program is being conducted in berry and stone fruit crops and grapes in Essex, Chatham-Kent, Norfolk, Niagara and Durham counties.

The monitoring project is supported by a grant from the Canada Adaptation Program and collaboration among Niagara Peninsula Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, Ontario Tender Fruit Growers, Eastern Ontario Berry Growers, Grape Growers of Ontario, OMAFRA staff and private consultants.

Traps were first deployed in berry and stone fruit blocks.  We have placed 4 traps with commercial SWD lures at each site.  Use these results in addition to your own monitoring program to determine when SWD is present on your farm. Conduct a salt water test or a plastic baggie test to confirm presence of larvae in fruit. Click here for instructions on doing this test.

County	Crop	Crop stage	Number of SWD per trap
			Aug 1-7	Aug 7-14	Aug 14-21
Essex	Field raspberry	fall harvest	10F, 3M	42F, 38M	54F, 28M
	Peach	harvest	20F, 13M	89F, 21M	62F, 12M
	Wild	n/a	165F, 113M	547F, 265M	35F, 31M
	Plum	green fruit	48F, 27M	43F, 18M	76F, 17M
Kent	Blueberry	harvest	13F, 8M	15F, 12M	2F, 1M
	Strawberry	ripe		4F, 16M	1M
	Raspberry	post harvest		16F, 20M	6F, 7M
Norfolk	Wild raspberry	n/a	26F, 46M	15F, 17M	94F, 51M
	Blueberry	harvest	194F, 92M	67F, 34M	55F, 15M
	Blueberry	harvest	142F, 42M	36F, 10M	82F, 24M
	Blueberry	harvest	70F, 35M	34F, 14M	112F, 19M
Niagara	Strawberry	ripe	21F, 15M	12F, 5M	12F, 8M
	Wild	n/a	20F, 50M	58F, 18M	10F, 28M
Niagara	Wild		42F, 44M	40F, 23M	retired
	Mulberry		47F, 66M	94F, 309M	retired
	Raspberry		169F, 59M	63F, 62M	retired
Niagara	Currant	harvest	115F, 53M	49F, 65M	25F, 31M
	Blackberry	ripe	31F, 30M	124F, 67M	41F, 8M
	Raspberry		60F, 26M	46F, 83M	retired
Niagara	Apricot	ripe	29F, 25M	49F, 15M	37F, 14M
	Plum	ripe	22F, 6M	98F, 25M	26F, 10M
	Nectarine	ripe	29F, 22M	17F, 21M	6F, 2M
	Peach	ripe	24F, 9M	25F, 7M	39F, 9M
Niagara	Peach	turning colour	18F, 10M	30F, 84M	13F, 31M
	Peach	turning colour	104F, 91M	69F, 217M	17F, 46M
Niagara	Raspberry		66F, 55M	55F, 88M	retired
	Raspberry		29F, 29M	18F, 20M	retired
Niagara	nectarine		January 11, 1900	71F, 49M	retired
	nectarine		March 8, 1900	16F, 14M	retired
	peach	turning colour	March 9, 1900	33F, 44M	26F, 21M
	peach	turning colour	March 10, 1900	53F, 32M	26F, 24M
Niagara	nectarine	ripe	March 11, 1900	5F, 4M	3F, 6M
	peach	ripe	January 20, 1900	2F, 2M	2F, 6M
	peach	ripe	February 1, 1900	18F, 18M	5F, 7M
	apricot		March 12, 1900	12F, 32M	retired
Durham	wild	n/a	January 18, 1900	7F, 26M	May 11, 1900
	Blueberry	harvest	January 18, 1900	21F, 13M	May 12, 1900
	Blueberry	harvest	January 18, 1900	8F, 3M	58F, 64M
	Blueberry	harvest	January 18, 1900	18F, 10M	19F, 12M

Once sustained catch occurs (two weeks in a row with SWD) growers with ripening crops susceptible to SWD should consider using a product with activity against SWD in preharvest sprays.  Check the SWD product registrations on our website.

We are currently testing susceptibility of apricots, plums and peaches to damage by SWD. Vineyards will be included as of August 21.  Fruit collected at pre-commercial ripeness, commercial ripeness and tree ripe are being exposed to SWD under lab conditions. Fruit firmness is measured to classify into the 3 ripeness classes. Fruit are exposed to SWD for 24 hours and then incubated to allow any SWD to mature to adults. According to David Jones, MSU extension expert, “For plums and peaches, you shouldn’t be starting management the moment that color creeps in,” he said. “If you initiate a spray program around 4 to 5 pounds of firmness, you should be able to catch them.” Source: https://www.goodfruit.com/new-mindset-for-managing-spotted-wing-depredation/ Our preliminary trial on apricot last year supported this observation.  Most fruit harvested for shipping is about 5 pounds pressure.

This project was funded in part through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (the Partnership), a federal-provincial-territorial initiative. The Agricultural Adaptation Council assists in the delivery of the Partnership in Ontario.