Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/155925
Normally focused on berry crops, the spotted-wing drosophila has made the jump to wine grapes in certain regions. BY DAV ID FALCH EK New Bug on the Block Spotted-wing drosophila may become a problem for eastern grape growers AT A GLANCE + The spotted-wing drosophila (SWD) caused severe vineyard damage in select Virginia vineyards in 2012. + A fruit fly with the ability to lay eggs in barely ripening fruit, SWD causes damage that is difficult to identify. + The pest seems to prefer red, soft-skinned grapes. + Outside Virginia, few observers see SWD damage on wine grapes, but some predict the pest will spread. + Researchers at Virginia Tech and Oregon State University are working to develop a better understanding of SWD and better means of control. 52 V I N E YARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT | Sept - Oct 2013 t sounds like something straight out of a winemaker's nightmare: While crushing relatively healthy looking grapes, squirming maggots suddenly rise to the top of the must. That cold-sweat scenario was a horrifying reality for certain vintners in northern Virginia in the fall of 2012, as an invasive species of fruit fly known as the spotted-wing drosophila, or Drosophila suzukii – no longer content with rotting fruit, compost piles and softer berries – aimed its serrated ovipositor at healthy wine grapes. Having made its way up the Eastern Seaboard, the SWD, as it is known in shorthand, is wreaking havoc on berry farms. For reasons not well understood, SWD has made the jump to wine grapes in some regions and not others. This leaves open the question of whether the fly and its larvae could become the newest vineyard pest or a localized nuisance. w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m