Spotted Wing Drosophila on Brambles
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Spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) infests berries with legless, white, 1/8inch long larvae. Adults are 1/10 inch long and yellowish orange with red eyes and clear wings. Adult males have a single dark spot near the tips of each wing and two small but distinct dark bands on each front leg. Spots on the wings may not be apparent on newly emerged males. Females have distinct serrated ovipositors, which are used to insert tiny white eggs underneath intact skins of fruit. Females also have unbroken banding on the abdomen. Two filamentous breathing tubes can be visible in fruit drupelets when larvae are present/developing. Berries are subject to attack as they begin to turn color.
Spotted wing drosophila eggs under the skin of fruit (notice the two visible breathing tubes).
(Photo: Ric Bessin, University of Kentucky)
Spotted wing drosophila larvae.
(Photo: Ric Bessin, University of Kentucky)
Spotted wing drosophila adult.
(Photo: Ric Bessin, University of Kentucky)
Management:
- Collect overripe, damaged, or rotting fruit in clear bags; leave bags in the sun to kill larvae.
- Refrigerate harvested berries immediately.
- In small plantings, use fine screening (less than 1 mm opening) to exclude egg-laying females.
- Trap for adults beginning 10 days before harvest.
- Treat crop weekly with insecticides if any adults are detected in traps.
