Location: Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection
Project Number: 8080-21000-030-009-R
Project Type: Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jun 13, 2016
End Date: Aug 31, 2019
Objective:
The objective of this project will be to develop novel attract-and-kill and push-pull approaches for spotted wing drosophila (SWD) that can be used as model systems to increase food security for conventional and organic small fruit crops.
Approach:
We will conduct studies to test various attractants singly and in combination, i.e., those commercially available and under development. Also, blends of volatiles will be tested in combination with other attractants, e.g., yeast volatiles, food-based odors and odors from fermentation products. The olfactory repellent, octenol, will be tested in greenhouse, semi-field and field experiments under both choice and no-choice conditions for SWD behavioral manipulation. Evaluations of alightment upon visual stimuli and host plants, and oviposition on ripened fruit will be conducted in semi-field and field plots in the presence of the repellent and also in association with olfactory attractants. Additionally, field plots with and without repellents will be evaluated for the presence and density of SWD. Attracticidal spheres will be evaluated and optimized for their potential in the management of SWD. We will evaluate numerous promising toxicants to optimize lethality and residual efficacy. We will optimize deployment strategies in field plots and combine the use of attracticidal spheres with olfactory repellents and attractants as a tool for management of SWD and protectant against damaged raspberries and blueberries.
