A study on the link between spotted wing drosophila populations, crop damage, and yield losses

Description

There is very little documentation on the link between the number of spotted wing drosophila captured in traps and berry crop damage and associated economic losses. The aim of this project was to gather the necessary data to determine whether trap captures can predict damage levels and yield losses in the field. Traps were installed for two years in five raspberry fields in Québec. Numbers of adults in the traps and larva in the fruit, as well as yield losses and the percentage of undamaged fruit were evaluated every week during the harvest season.

Objective(s)

• Determine where there is a significant correlation between the number of adult spotted wing drosophila captured and yield losses observed in the field
• Demonstrate that the risk of damage (larva in the fruit) is low when the number of adults in the traps is low.