The future of the SWD*VMN for 2013 and beyond

Male (right) and female (left) spotted wing drosophila on a raspberry at the Upper Mountain Research Station, Laurel Springs, NC. Photo: HJB

For the last three years, we have coordinated the Spotted Wing Drosophila Volunteer Monitoring Network (SWD*VMN).  The goals of the SWD*VMN were:

1. To detect the movement of spotted wing drosophila (SWD) if or when it spread throughout the eastern United States
We began the SWD*VMN in 2010, when SWD had only been detected in Florida in the eastern US. The SWD*VMN facilitated the first detections of SWD in South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, West Virginia, and Maryland.

2. To determine when during the year SWD are active and relative population densities throughout the year
SWD have been detected earlier each year in states where the SWD*VMN has been active.  In 2012 and 2013, some locations in the southeast caught flies throughout the entire winter. Peaks in trap captures in NC appear to occur in mid summer (July) and fall (after September), with fall populations appearing the largest.  However, these trap capture peaks are subject to interpretation because the traps and baits we use are likely not as attractive to SWD adults as fruit. 

Dates of first trap capture for eastern states participating in the SWD*VMN. Table from Burrack, et al. Journal of Integrated Pest Management.

3. To communicate and display information on detections and trap captures with growers and extension personnel
All trap captures from the SWD*VMN are available here (click on a county to link to the sites in that county and then click on site names to view data from that site). Our policy has been to only identify sites to county.

Along the way to accomplishing these goals, we've been able to gather some additional information. During 2010, we compared different lures at SWD*VMN sites and learned that some baits need to be changed more frequently than others. Our relative trap capture numbers have suggested that some crops may either foster lower SWD populations or be less conducive to our trapping methods.  For example, we catch more flies in shady crops such as caneberries and some grapes and fewer flies in crops with open, sunny canopies such as strawberries and blueberries.  Importantly, this does not necessarily mean that we have fewer flies in theses systems.

Where does the SWD*VMN go from here?
We have accomplished the initial goals of the SWD*VMN and reached the end of the funding which supported the large statewide (in NC) and multi state efforts (much thanks to the Southern Region Small Fruits Consortium and the NC Tobacco Trust Fund, Inc. for their support).  We have also produced a journal article article to more widely share our findings from the SWD*VMN.

Moving forward, we will maintain, and improve the SWD*VMN site for use by our lab and partners in other states to collect, store, and display SWD trap capture data. Collaborators in OR, TN, AR, NY, and other states have expressed interest in continuing to use the site.  The improvements on the way for the site include incorporating graphs to display data for each site and, in the more distant future, incorporating degree day models being developed for SWD by folks in the western US.

In our lab, we will be using the SWD*VMN to collect data from our planned 8 to 12 trapping locations throughout the state, most of which will be at NCSU or NCDA & CS Research Stations. However, we will no longer be directly facilitating large scale SWD monitoring through our laboratory.  We've posting lots of "do-it-yourself" SWD monitoring information and will be posting a monitoring update for 2013 later today.  Please feel free to contact us if you have questions about the SWD*VMN.

More information
SWD*VMN at EDDMapS
All SWD*VMN posts at NC Small Fruits & Specialty Crop IPM

SWD*VMN article published in Journal of Integrated Pest Management

A summary of our three-year multistate Spotted Wing Drosophila Volunteer Monitoring Network (SWD*VMN) has recently been published in the Journal of Integrated Pest Management.  The Journal of IPM is open source, and you can access the article here. You can find SWD*VMN from trap captures from 2010 through present here.

Spotted wing drosophila detected in Arkansas

On July 9th, Donn Johnson at his team at the University of Arkansas detected the first spotted wing drosophila adults in Arkansas.  You can read about this find here and see the trap capture data at the SWD*VMN.

Spotted wing drosophila in the city

Spotted wing drosophila mating pair outside a Wake County, NC home.  Photo: Matt Bertone.

Entomologists at the North Carolina Nature Research Center and NC State University are partnering to count the creepy crawlers and unseen critters that live inside our houses, and have found spotted wing drosophila (SWD) during their search.

Led by Michelle Trautwein, Assistant Director of the Biodiversity Laboratory at the Nature Research Center, Arthopods of Our Homes seeks to understand the diversity of insects and other arthropods in homes and how human residents influence their populations.  In the handful of houses the team has sampled so far, they have found over 100 species.  Not necessarily a surprise to us entomologists, who know insects are all around us, but it is exciting to demonstrate such diversity so close to home!

Eagle eyed dipterist Matt Bertone, part of the Arthropods of Your Home team, spotted two mating SWD in the yard of a recently sampled home and collected a few others inside.  The flies inside are particularly interesting, as we suspect that man made structures may help adult flies overwinter because they don't diapause, or hibernate, like many other insects.  Understanding how common SWD is in non agricultural habitats and during what times of year we can find them will help us develop whole-system management tools, not to mention help us understand how significant a concern they may before your backyard garden.

Matt will be record SWD finds as part of the SWD*VMN (Spotted Wing Drosophila Volunteer Monitoring Network).  You can find the record for the first one here.

More information

On location with the Arthropods of Our Homes team - Your Wild Life Blog 

Sign up for Arthropods of Our Homes - Your Wild Life

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Why are monitoring sites only listed by county?

You may have noticed that site names for the SWD*VMN are coded by county followed by a generic number.  I have also shared monitoring data online for the Grape Root Borer*Volunteer Monitoring Network (GRB*VMN) and for blueberry insect monitoring programs run by my laboratory, again with sites identified to the county level. I had a request via the comments on this blog for more detailed location information for one of our SWD*VMN monitoring sites. Because of this request, I wanted to clarify that it is my policy not to provide any geographic information about trapping locations below county.  The reason for this policy is two fold:

1. County is a established level for displaying insect (or other invasive organism) detection information.  See the National Agricultural Pest Information System for an example, and

2. All of our monitoring networks represent a patchwork of public & private and commerical & non commerical land. Because some commerical fruit growers have generously to allowed us, county extension agents, or others to trap on their land or have contributed their trapping data to our networks, we do not want to risk any potential harm to their business by sharing more information than necessary with the public.

The purpose of sharing insect monitoring data online is to provide information growers, homeowners, and other stakeholders can use in making management decisions.  It is not intended to replace site specific monitoring by growers or homeowners.  Just because an insect is being trapping in your county does not mean that it is present on your farm. Knowing exact trapping sites within a county would not change this.  Insect activity in your county does suggest, however, that it would be wise for you to go out and check your plants. Insect trapping data is also not intended for use by regulators or consumers.  Just because adult insects are active at sites does not necessarily mean that damage to crops is occurring.

Eagle eyed readers may have noticed that I will occasionally name a site when posting about trapping data.  I only do this for sites at state and/or university run research stations, like New Hanover 1, which is located at the Horticultural Crops Research Station near Castle Hayne, NC.  Because research stations are non commerical operations, identifying these sites does not compromise grower cooperator privacy.

Spotted wing drosophila adults trapped in North Carolina blueberry country

Spotted wing drosophila (SWD) detections have begun earlier this year than in the previous two years the Spotted Wing Drosophila Volunteer Monitoring Network (SWD*VMN) has been active.   Now in addition to positive detections in Surry, Randolph, and Rowan Counties, SWD has been detected in southeastern North Carolina blueberries for the first time this year.

On April 5th, five male and five female SWD were captured in traps at the Horticultural Crops Research Station near Castle Hayne, NC. This site is New Hanover 1 in SWD*VMN, and you can see data from last year here.  You'll notice that last year, we caught our first fly here on May 9th, a full month later than our first capture this year.  You can see all the trap captures from this site, including those from last week and all future dates here.

What do these trap captures mean for growers in North Carolina?
The fact that we are catching flies at several locations throughout the state means that SWD are active.  This means that growers should be vigilant for both SWD adults and larvae on their farms.  Growers are strongly encouraged to monitor for SWD adults using the same traps we are using (learn how make and use SWD traps here and here).  However, we don't have a good handle on how trap captures relate to fruit infestation, which means that growers should also monitor fruit carefully (learn how to sample fruit and identify Drosophila spp. larvae here).  If SWD are present on your farm, we are currently recommending a fairly aggressive management strategy, because there is zero tolerance for larvae present in marketed fruit. Contact your county cooperative extension agent or Hannah for SWD management recommendations.

The SWD*VMN is supported by the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, Inc. and the NC Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.

More information
Insect monitoring in NC Blueberries - 2011
Spotted wing drosophila adult trapping data - New Hanover 1
SWD*VMN