The invasive fruit fly, spotted wing drosophila (SWD) was quite widespread in Nova Scotia last summer and did cause significant yield reduction in several late season berry crops, including highbush blueberries. First catches were reported in Ontario and Quebec last week and in New Brunswick this week. Dr. Deb Moreau with AAFC in Kentville is continuing her survey work again this year and hasn’t caught any flies yet but we do expect them soon. If you have raspberries, day-neutral strawberries or highbush blueberries you are particularly vulnerable and ideally would be monitoring your own fields. The recommended management strategy is to begin applying controls after first catch through to the end of harvest.
Perennia has two useful factsheets that you may wish to review on this subject. The first is a monitoring factsheet that also includes directions on how to make your own monitoring traps and it can be found on Perennia’s website. The second factsheet lists the registered products that may be sprayed for control of SWD and it can be found here.
