2013 Highlights: UC IPM Annual Report

IPM tools help growers manage spotted wing drosophila

The Haviland trap, named after David Haviland. (Photo by D. Haviland.)

Today growers have more of the IPM tools they need to monitor and manage spotted wing drosophila (SWD) while producing high-quality early season cherries.

Larvae of this small fly feed inside fruit before harvest. When the fly first appeared in 2010, damage to fruit and increased management costs led to significant economic losses to cherry growers throughout California and the Pacific Northwest.

The situation has improved, thanks to the availability of an effective trap to monitor the flies and guidelines to keep insecticide residues on fruit below export limits. In addition, new lures for use with the traps are being tested, and a possible parasite for biological control has been identified. For the past three years Entomology Advisor David Haviland has been developing these and other IPM-based solutions for SWD.

To monitor orchards for flies, the bucket trap he designed is used by growers throughout the western United States, and is commonly referred to as the ?Haviland trap.? In 2013, Haviland and researchers in four states and Europe used this trap to field-test experimental lures for SWD. It is possible that a new lure may become commercially available within the next couple of years. Haviland also focused on biological control and pesticide studies enabling fruit to be sold internationally.

Many cherries grown in the West are exported to other countries. Regulations specify the amount of pesticide residue that can remain on internationally exported fruit. When SWD arrived, more and different insecticides were used to prevent damage.

Haviland studied how much of these insecticides remained on the fruit over time so that a grower would know what the insecticide residue would be at harvest. His guidelines for growers ensured that they would be able to sell their fruit internationally.