Tracking the Fruit Fly

Tracking the Fruit Fly. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. It's a mighty big name for something as small as a fruit fly. The Spotted Winged Drosophila or SWD is the cause for much consternation among ag producers in the NW. But it can take some perseverance and a lot of help from people to track this little fruit lover down. Amy Dreves is an entomologist with Oregon State University. DREVES: We are getting increasing numbers at this point and if you really look at what happened last year it was right around this time. There was some very warm weather that came in and then it cooled off so we're just really trying to be as prepared as we can. Dreves says they are looking into the best ways to trap the SWD. DREVES: Even placement of a trap is probably important right now. We're saying place that trap if it's for grape growers, place it where the fruit level is on the shady side because they're noted for liking shade and more cool conditions so we are just trying to gain information. They are trying to determine at what stage of ripeness that the fruit flies prefer. DREVES: It appears right at this moment in time and things are changing everyday but they're definitely preferring the ripe fruit and our question is can our bait in our traps be as attractive or more attractive than the fruit itself and that's what we would really want to be able to have a number that triggers – ok they're coming. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.