Hi:
I thought I'd post my experiences with a couple of pests (BMSB and SWD) that I have encountered in my yard:
A number of years ago, I remember when there was the concern about the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB). I certainly encountered this bug in my own backyard (and in the house) though there was never any significant damage to the fruit that I could see. Over time, I had noticed that they were no longer present. I noticed this bulletin refers to a native wasp has been attacking them since 2016 though I don't know if that is why they disappeared from my yard.
https://www.oregon.gov/ODA/sha.....tAlert.pdf
The other pest, Spotted Winged Drosophila (SWD) was much more problematic for me. I first encountered it in June 2010 on my raspberries. I had everbearing plants and I ended up cutting back the flowering canes to break the SWD cycle. I communicated with someone at Oregon State Univ and got the suggestion that covering the ripe berries with paint strainer bags would protect the berries. I ended up making lots of drawstring bag from mosquito netting and I posted a photo of protected berries on this forum. That method was successful (though it required some work to keep up with covering the berries) and I salvaged many harvests. Many of the early bags finally became brittle/tore but they lasted several years. I also stopped composting food waste since that attracted SWD but I'm sure there were other hosts (berries) in neighboring yards. However, I noticed in the past couple of years that the pest pressure had decreased. This year I had a very small harvest because last year I started having problems with cane blight so I had pulled up a number of canes. I did not even bag the limited number of berries I had this year before I pulled up the remainder of the canes. I kind of wonder if the warmer daytime temperatures had a role since I believe the male fly becomes sterile when it is over 85F. It reminded me of the days when it was so easy to grow and harvest raspberries....
Now I have to decide whether or not I want to replace the canes given the concern about yet another pest that attacks cane berries....
Has anyone else noticed changes in pest pressure?
redberry
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
We have lots of the stink bugs. I think the SWD attacked my late blackberries - Prime Ark Freedom. That was disappointing, those are the best blackberries I've ever grown. They didn't get the earlier ones.
I was wondering if a trap / attractant system might work, such as having a spoiling fruit in a bowl of water, or fake (or real) apple with tanglefoot to trap them.
The BMSB has distinctive white segments on the antennae and legs, other brown stinkbug look-alikes occur locally.
BSMB showed up at my SE Portland garden for the first time this year: 2 nymphs and one adult, all killed.
SWD fruit fly population in caneberries here has remained steady over the past 10 years, perhaps varying 2:1, but 1,000 vs 2,000 flies requires the same actions and adaptations. Attractants would likely just increase the population. Apple cider vinegar traps are effective if used in quantity (every 5 feet or so of row). I would say that even with the hot summer, SWD population here was average.
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