Cooperative Extension at Highmoor Farm

David Handley, Vegetable and Small Fruit Specialist; James Dill, Pest Management Specialist; Frank Drummond, Professor of Insect Ecology/Entomology We have found spotted wing drosophila (SWD) fruit flies in raspberry and highbush blueberry plantings in Maine over the past week, in most of the locations where we have set up traps. (See table below.) This compliments […]

David Handley, Vegetable and Small Fruit Specialist; James Dill, Pest Management Specialist; Frank Drummond, Professor of Insect Ecology/Entomology Trap counts of spotted wing drosophila rose dramatically in some locations over the past week. We are now finding fly numbers in the thousands at more than half of our trapping sites. (See table below.) All sites […]

David Handley, Vegetable and Small Fruit Specialist; James Dill, Pest Management Specialist; Frank Drummond, Professor of Insect Ecology/Entomology Spotted wing drosophila populations continue to be high but variable this week. While some locations saw decreases in the weekly trap catch, others had the highest numbers of the season. (See table below.) This variability can be […]

David Handley, Vegetable and Small Fruit Specialist; James Dill, Pest Management Specialist; Frank Drummond, Professor of Insect Ecology/Entomology Spotted wing drosophila numbers increased significantly at some of the trapping sites this week, although there doesn’t seem to be a pattern to those increases geographically. (See table below.) Fly numbers at other locations remained relatively stable […]

David Handley, Vegetable and Small Fruit Specialist; James Dill, Pest Management Specialist; Frank Drummond, Professor of Insect Ecology/Entomology There was a downturn in spotted wing drosophila numbers at most of our trapping locations this week, although it is important to note that all locations still had populations high enough to cause significant damage to any […]

David Handley, Vegetable and Small Fruit Specialist; James Dill, Pest Management Specialist; Frank Drummond, Professor of Insect Ecology/Entomology Spotted wing drosophila numbers were variable from site to site this week, with some locations seeing little change or a slight decrease from last week, while others showed a significant increase. This may be due to the […]

David Handley, Vegetable and Small Fruit Specialist; James Dill, Pest Management Specialist; Frank Drummond, Professor of Insect Ecology/Entomology Trap captures for spotted wing drosophila increased in most locations this week, likely stimulated by some warmer weather from tropical fronts moving through Maine. Fly populations remain well over the tolerance level to prevent fruit infestation. (See […]

David Handley, Vegetable and Small Fruit Specialist; James Dill, Pest Management Specialist; Frank Drummond, Professor of Insect Ecology/Entomology Our trap captures for spotted wing drosophila did not change significantly in most locations last week, meaning that populations are generally well over the tolerance level to prevent infestation of any soft fruit remaining in the fields. […]

David Handley, Vegetable and Small Fruit Specialist; James Dill, Pest Management Specialist; Frank Drummond, Professor of Insect Ecology/Entomology Our trap captures for spotted wing drosophila continued to increase this week at nearly all locations. (See table below.) Growers with any susceptible ripening fruit will need to continue protecting against fly egg-laying and larval infestation. Only […]

David Handley, Vegetable and Small Fruit Specialist; James Dill, Pest Management Specialist; Frank Drummond, Professor of Insect Ecology/Entomology Spotted wing drosophila trap captures continue to increase as we move later into the season. (See table below.) Such high fly numbers will cause significant infestations of larvae in any ripening soft fruit, especially raspberries, blackberries, blueberries […]