The Phenology of Infestations and the Impacts of Different Varieties of Cold Hardy Red Raspberries on Drosophila suzukii

Abstract

Spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (SWD), is emerging as the most significant pest of berries and stone fruits worldwide. With a broad host range, thin­skinned berries are particularly susceptible to infestation, and fruit producers are desperate for methods to control this pest. One of the keys to developing an integrated management program for SWD is to understand host preference and varietal susceptibility of highly susceptible crop hosts. Working in replicated small plots, experiments were conducted to evaluate differences in varietal susceptibility on cold hardy red primocane fruiting raspberries. Significant differences were observed in both the level of infestation and in the average number of larvae per berry by variety. In addition, it appears that there is a significant negative correlation between the level of infestation and the number of larvae per fruit with the time of sampling, but only an interaction of variety and time for the number of larvae