I'm glad JohnS posted the fruit fly trap idea from the Oregonian. I, too, had seen that in the paper and saved the section for reference. Last year, I did limited trials on using the cider vinegar traps but I was too busy to really approach it systematically and I was afraid of attracting more flies as ac7nj mentioned. However, I think this year I may set up some traps early in the season. BTW, remember that only the male flies are easy to distinguish from the regular vinegar flies and the numbers of males to females are not always equal. I did not spot a male fly until mid-summer! I think the compost bin area would be a good place to place a trap. Speaking of compost bins, I would like to hear if LeeN has had any success with the Bokashi composting system. I found some blogs by people who have set up systems without purchasing fancy "equipment" and good step-by-step instructions.

More on pesticides -- as far as I can tell, the application of toxic chemicals is the focus of the OSU control strategy.

I see this to be a major problem -- in doing research and reading on this subject I came across a statement from John Stark of WSU indicating that pesticides are found in almost every surface water system in the country; and now with the horrific problem of D. suzukii, the recommended approach is to add more.

I neither consider toxic chemicals to be effective (a fertile female can enter onto your property after spraying and begin to lay eggs) nor efficient (as so many non-target species are killed as well). Besides, these chemicals can additionally be consumed by secondary predators (birds, mammals, etc.). [appendum -- ALL of the recommended toxic chemicals are a potential hazard to bees.]

And nobody has told me how D. suzukii can be controlled in native/natural habitats.

OSU's most recent recommendations are (What to do): " Work with your industry and government representatives to develop a chemical management plan for immediate use if D. suzukii is found."; "Once D. suzukii is found be prepared to protect your fruit on a regional scale."; "All growers in an infested area should participate in controlling the pest.".

So much for "organic" produce. Secondly, if you do not participate in a regional chemical management plan, by law, your property can be declared a public nuisance (ag crops take precedence over all other usages).

Trapping -- the purpose of trapping as I can ascertain has little or nothing to do with actual, direct population control. Its purpose is to monitor for the presence of D. suzukii such as to indicate when to begin the spraying of toxic chemicals. Trapping is discriminatory -- according to OSU's 9-7-10 Update for the period between 8/23 and 8/26 a total of 11,247 flies were trapped; 2,957 females and 8,290 males. As a control measure, it does little good to trap males when it is the females who lay the eggs, and I assume that males have sufficient sperm to fertilize more than one female.

Attractants -- as far as I can ascertain, virtually nothing is known about what attracts the female fly to the fruit (such that the fruit is an appropriate place to lay eggs [termed oviposit]). Apple cider vinegar is used as the attractant in the above mentioned traps but it is unknown just how effective this medium actually is. As fruit ripens it goes through various chemical changes -- acids are neutralized (think persimmon); starches are converted into sugars; chlorophyll hydrolizes to anthocyanins; pectin is reduced; aromatic esters form, and ethylene is released. If more were known about what attracts the fly to the fruit, then there might be alternative approaches to controlling or limiting damage. Suffice it to say, the fly relies on visual, olfactory and gustatory receptors to (respectively) see, smell and taste. The antennae with branched arista smell and, at least in some flies including Drosophila, there are gustatory sensors in their legs.

As a final comment on both trapping and attractants, traps will only be effective when the attractiveness of the trap exceeds the attractiveness of the fruit. On an acre of ripening strawberries, once the mass of whatever is attracting the flies to the strawberries exceeds the mass of the attractant in the traps, the traps will become basically useless (which may explain why more males were captured than females).

There is a secondary implication to this worth noting, if there is a 50/50 sexual distribution within the fly population then the reported 11,247 collected between August 23 and 26 should be adjusted to represent that equality -- thus 8,290 males plus 8,290 females equals 16,580 flies (adding another 5233 flies). Please note that the data indicated for the period between 6/28 and 7/2 that 95 flies were captured (32 = M and 63 = F). Whatever numbers you use for comparative purposes those numbers should provide you with the explosive reproductive potential of this species.

Repellants -- I think that rather than attempting to control the fly with toxic chemicals or futile trapping, repellants offer the best potential for sane management. As far as I can ascertain, this approach is being largely ignored. Among some fly species, when the female oviposits the egg into the fruit, she releases a pheromone to indicate to other flies and thus claims that fruit (or section of a larger fruit) as hers. This both reduces competition for her larva and reduces the waste of another fly's egg into an already inhabited/infested site (thus benefitting the second fly and her genetic materials). In an entirely different approach, a completely different species may leave a pheromone signature that repels some other species from laying eggs on that site -- the example I found is that ants will leave a pheromone trail indicating that they inhabit a particular tree and these chemicals reduce the number of eggs that some species of flies lay on the fruits in those trees. This is because of the predatory nature of the ants to fly eggs, larva and even adults.

I am just beginning to explore this approach. Wouldn't it be great to spray a non-lethal chemical on the ripening fruits that tells the fly to go somewhere else.

Additionally Lon Rombaugh's book, "The Grape Grower - a guide to organic viticulture" has exceedingly good information (pages 76 - 89) on alternative approaches to disease and insects. Plus, there is additional information dealing with specific treatments for specific problems. This book is definitely worthwhile reviewing and considering as a starting point for alternative approaches for dealing with this damned fly. Perhaps OSU might consider talking to Lon.

Politics -- (not . . . the concept of many bloodsucking parasite). People, it is time to get proactive and start demanding that governments start to seriously address the issue of invasive plants and animals. I will be meeting with my state representative to demand increased funding to Oregon Depts of Agriculture, and Fish & Wildlife. I will be demanding more monies spent for invasives control. Likewise I will be contacting various Federal elected officials. In each case, I will be also asking them to assure me (with total certainty) that D. suzukii is not weapon of bio-terror introduced by some enemy; and (since they will not be able to do so) ask them why they are not defending the Homeland.

Maybe you believe the introductory line at the OSU Website on D. suzukii which reads: "**Special Consumer Message** Spotted wing drosophila is a new arrival to Oregon but can be controlled using agronomically acceptable management strategies.". Not only do I think this statement to be false and disingenuous, but it also presupposes that I consider the excessive reliance on toxic pesticides (and therein application) to be acceptable.

But I guess some individuals think me too expressive in my opinions.

The Seattle Fruit Society President wrote to me last year about what she noticed with the drosophilia fly apparently being even more prevalent and attracted to the compost piles and her horror at this discovery. She was a bit miffed that the news media and the extension agents, etc. were not speaking about this problem and I suspect she felt a bit overwhelmed at feeling like she had to deal with this problem without a lot of help.
This prolonged recession we are in as a country (and world) is not helping with public funding for problems such as this....and besides, the money might be more likely to have been lobbied by the Agribusiness people and not for the small homeowners.....well, whatever the reason, the reality is that there doesn't seem to be organized resistance and education to find out these things.
So, LeeN, I will follow what you have to say about composting....I don't compost myself but I need to learn how one who does do composting can address themselves to this problem and I watch with interest on the "Bokashi" method......you are the only guy I know who is actively working on this.....I am sure there are others but I don't know who they are.

I am not good with links....so I am posting the entire article of Marilyn Tilbury from the recent Western Cascade society newsletter....they are reconsidering making this newsletter available to all....but for right now, I have permission for just Marilyn's article. She is a long-time hobby enthusiast who works closely with the entomologist Sharon Collman and others. I realize her optimistic ending can be debated, but perhaps she has an idea or two worth considering here:

MORE ON SPOTTED WING DROSOPHILIA
by Marilyn Tilbury, Contributor, STFS

"The previous three issues of the BeeLine have contained information about the new pest vinegar fly, Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD). Here is perspective gained from dealing with it at our SE Seattle location for the last two years. "

" In July 2009 we had a moderate infestation in raspberries and Marionberries. Little white larvae would emerge from fruit refrigerated overnight. Some unpicked ripe raspberries liquefied and drooped, then dried on the vine. Cherry tomatoes left on the vine too long developed a soft, yellowish area on the fruit and larvae were inside.

Would SWD be a problem in 2010? When would they show up? What damage would they cause? How could we mitigate it? What’s a good trap to use? What’s a good bait? The answers are now in.

SWD were caught the first day traps were set out, March 15, 2010, and they’ve been caught every time since except during the pre Thanksgiving Day storm and several days after. As this is written, in December, they are still being trapped in high numbers at temps in the mid forties, tho literature suggests they become inactive below 48.4F. (So much for lab data.) There are several other species of vinegar flies out there, but SWD appear to be the hardiest and are the most numerous by far.

In spite of trapping huge numbers of SWD in 2010, which proved the numbers in our environment were likewise huge, damage was minimal, with one exception. Berries were picked daily and very few were infested. We also took a bucket out every day to pick bad fruit and any drops. This fruit was shallowly buried. A few of the cherry tomatoes that managed to ripen were lightly hit. We did get blind sided on pie cherries: just as soon as the fruit transitioned from straw color to pink in late June, SWD hit hard. Our response was to strip the tree of all fruit. Oddly, no pie cherries were infested in 2009.

How was SWD damage kept so low? We took the advice of the Oregon State U folks (google “OSU SWD”) and got plenty of traps in crops we were trying to protect before the fruit started to ripen and were diligent about good sanitation practices.

Any clear plastic bottle including the ubiquitous 500 ml plastic water bottle makes a great trap. Screw a cup hook into the cap and put a dab of epoxy glue on the underside if needed. Then cut a U-shaped window so that the flap forms a rain shield or burn holes in the upper area with a soldering iron. We spaced bottles every 3 feet in the berry trellis and hoisted half-gallon plastic milk jugs into the upper canopy of fruit trees. Surprisingly, those tree traps catch far more SWD than the bottles in the berry trellis.

Several recommended baits were compared: apple cider vinegar, red jug wine, white jug wine with a bit of sugar, lees from beer brewing and a mix of 1 ½ cups water, 4 teaspoons white sugar and one packet yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons). Vinegar was the most attractive in early spring under uniform cool and wet conditions. However since mid May the yeast mix has been by far the best. It is also the cheapest. One can keep it going, like sourdough starter, by adding more water and sugar in proportion.

" Twice a week we sieved out the flies and returned the bait to the bottles to keep them going for a month. One yeast bait was never replaced, just water and sugar added from time to time. That bait outdid the others most of the season."

"Will this invasive be here to stay, like apple maggot, or fade into the background like the European crane fly did after damaging lawns in the ‘80s? We don’t know but numbers in California were down in 2010 tho SWD is a perennial pest in Japan. Hummingbirds are an unusual ally. Small insects form 25% of their diet and they prefer vinegar flies. No wonder more Anna’s hummers are over wintering.

" In conclusion, SWD were here in high numbers in 2010. They can devastate many fruits. Even so, we can mount a successful defense by installing enough traps before a crop ripens, and by harvesting fruit and removing and burying all bad fruit daily. "

Don:

Does Tim Smith have anything written that I might cite relative to the various statements you mention?

I am trying to get the attention of my state representative and when I feel completely ready, I will be preparing communication to my Congressional members. Thus far viable economic data and predictions are very limited.

The silver bullet issue is still an unknown. There are multiple strategies that are not being considered (at least to my knowledge). These include:

1. Ovipositional Marking Pheremones -- meaning that when a female deposits an egg she marks the spot with a chemical scent. This tells another female that the site is taken so go someplace else. Spray a whole field with this non-toxic repellant approach and you probably will fool enough flies to protect the crop.

2. Predatory Pheremones -- in some instances some insects can detect the pheremone trails of ants that are inhabitating/colonizing a tree. The flies recognize that the ants will "defend" their territory and attack (or just plain eat) the eggs or larva of another insect. Again, another type of non-toxic repellant to fool the insect.

3. Stinky stuff -- (a specific, technical, and uniquely defined scientific subject area) I'm just beginning to read about this but think garlic emulsions, rosemary oil, maybe horseradish extract mixed with habanero peppers, or even essence of teenage boys' footwear. Some of these things might be systemic meaning they would be absorbed by the plant but not to the degree so as to render the fruit unedible. Whether this approach would mask the odors of ripening fruit or actually repel the bugs is open to debate. If you have teenage sons, hanging their stinky shoes on the trees would at least freshen the air inside your home.

4. Barriers -- kaolin clay, footies, bags.

More than anything (at this time) contact your legislators and other elected office holders and get in their faces. Be demanding and unrelenting in requiring high priority alternative approaches to toxic pesticides and more importantly, preventative measures that stop things before they enter the country. If it is not the Brown marmorated stink bug, it will by yet another, and another, and another and still another destructive invasive pest or weed.

This is not to say Eastern Washington Growers aren't interested.

Jan. 13th article:

http://www.capitalpress.com/content/djw ... art-011411

Thanks for the update, Don. I have looked at the OSU SWD website to see if they have added anything new for this year. It looks like there was an SWD Research and Warm-up meeting in mid-April, but I don't see any summaries or any obvious posts about new information.

I purchased apple cider vinegar and yellow sticky cards to make traps though I don't really want to attract them here if they aren't around! However, because it has been so cold and wet, I have not bothered to put any out. I noticed, though, that the link to "Statewide SWD Real Time Mapping" from the OSU SWD website does have some limited (Multnomah, Marion, and Linn Counties) trapping data for this year so far. It looks like they are trying to track larvae as well as the adults. The numbers are low (<10) for males and females in a Salmonberry growing area for SW Multnomah county. No data was posted for WA. I'll check the website at intervals to see if the trapping increases as the season progresses.