Spotted-wing drosophila

Although the spotted-wing drosophila Drosophila suzukii originates in Southeast Asia, this pest is now widespread in North America, Central America and Europe. This species causes severe damage to healthy fruit in comparison to other fruit flies. Therefore D. suzukii poses a serious threat to many soft fruits and orchard crops with economical losses from 5 % up to 100 %. With Biobests monitoring and scouting tools you can keep one step ahead of D. suzukii.

What damage can Drosophila suzukii cause?

• Females make small scars on the fruit when laying eggs.
• The tissue around the scar softens and collapses, forming a remarkable lesion.
• The fluids from the lesion attract other pests and diseases such as D. melanogaster and Botrytis.
• There is a high risk of damage from mid-spring till late fall.

How to control Drosophila suzukii?

To monitor Drosophila suzukii and prevent this species from entering your crop, you can rely on the combined strategy of the specially developed trap Droso^® Trap and the attractant Dros’Attract.

What are the characteristics of Drosophila suzukii?

• Females lay eggs under the soft skin of fresh and unripe fruit.
• Eggs are small, transparent and glossy.
• The larvae are white, cylindrical and about 3 to 4 mm long.
• Pupae are reddish-brown and 2 to 3 mm long.
• The adults of about 2 to 3 mm in length are yellow-brown with darker stripes on their abdomen and they have red eyes.
• Unlike females, males have a dark spot near the tip of their wings. Females have a serrated ovipositor.

What about Drosophila suzukii‘s life cycle? 

• Females deposit 2 to 3 eggs a time and are able to produce 300 eggs during its life.
• It takes them 1 to 2 weeks to develop from egg to adult. Although temperatures around 20 °C/68 °F are perfect for them, they also tolerate conditions from 0 °C/32 °F to 30 °C/86 °F.
• Adults can live 3 to 9 weeks.
• D. suzukii hibernate, but not in areas with a milder climate.
• The population can be huge as they produce 10 to 13 generations a year. After 3 generations, around 25 million adults emerge.