Our national team of biologists and social scientist has assembled with the goal of developing sustainable strategies to manage spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii), an invasive fly native to eastern Asia that damages soft skinned fruit crops, rendering them unmarketable. This project is supported by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Specialty Crop Research Initiative.
Our project activities are wide ranging, and we will regularly post updates here and on our project Facebook page.
The Issue: In the spotted-wing drosophila’s native range in East Asia, a wide number of natural enemies keep SWD numbers in check. These natural enemies include parasitoid wasps that lay …
The Issue: Growers must make frequent pesticide applications to control spotted-wing drosophila (SWD) during times of high infestation pressure. Unfortunately, these frequent applications, along with the fly’s ability to reproduce …
Laura Kraft, PhD student at NC State University, has authored an article for Entomology Today, the blog of Entomological Society of America, describing a recently published study by Lauren …
As we produce research publications associated with our project, we will share summaries here. This is the first of several upcoming research summaries in which we’ll share our findings …
If you were unable to attend our second project webinar, you can now view it here. The purpose of this webinar is to update fruit growers and extension practitioners …
Our research team will be presenting the second of our annual webinar series on on Feb. 23, 2018, from 12 to 1 p.m. Titled “Good Bugs vs Bad: Using Biological Controls …
An important part of our project is measuring the impact SWD has had on affected crops so we can focus our efforts on the areas of greatest need, provide …
Female spotted wing drosophila on a raspberry. Photo: Hannah Burrack via Bugwood Insect Image Database. We often get requests for images of spotted wing drosophila from extension agents and others. …
Our sister project, focused on management of spotted wing drosophila in organic fruit crops, presented a webinar highlighting first year results from their project last week. You can view …
There is a lot of interest the potential of novel control tactics, such as gene drive or gene editing, for management of insects like spotted wing drosophila. However, these tactics …