Evaluating Mass Trapping as a Tool for Non-chemical Spotted Wing Drosophila Management

Title: Evaluating Mass Trapping as a Tool for Non-Chemical Spotted Wing Drosophila Management

Principal Investigator: Jen McFarlane, Research Coordinator and IPM Consultant, E.S. Cropconsult Ltd.

Duration: April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2022

Project Summary:

Currently, chemical controls are the primary management tool for spotted wing drosophila (SWD).  However, long-term concerns including the evolution of resistance, deregistration of products and a lack of tools for organic growers, are driving a need for alternate management strategies.  Mass trapping is a pest management tool that aims to reduce the population of a target pest by using a high density of traps, within or outside of the protected area, to attract high numbers of the pest, which will then be confined and die.

SWD overwinter as adults in natural areas surrounding blueberry fields and, as berries ripen, they move into fields resulting in an increase in pest pressure from the edges to the middle of the field. Placing mass traps outside of the field may result in creating a barrier that prevents, slows, or reduces SWD movement into the field, allowing a grower to begin spray applications later than current practice.  Also, if successful, mass trapping could reduce pest populations during the early season, potentially reducing the number or frequency of sprays needed.

1. Evaluate the potential for using mass trapping as an on-farm non-chemical management tool for SWD and assess whether mass trapping can provide sufficient SWD population reductions within a field to mitigate crop losses.
2. Provide an alternative management option for SWD and take steps towards growers’ ability to adapt to climate change and its impact on pest levels.

Present a cost accounting estimate to demonstrate the cost to growers of implementing this method of management.