Damage potential of Drosophila suzukii and development of risk management and control measures (DROSKII)

Drosophila suzukii, the Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD), is a vinegar fly native to Asia, which recently has been introduced to Europe (Calabria et al., 2012). Drosophila suzukii infests thin-skinned fruits and poses a significant risk to soft fruits, stone fruits as well as grapes (Cini et al., 2012). Although this pest is present in Europe since only a few years, severe damages were observed on sweet cherries, strawberries, raspberries, black and blueberries. New findings in EU countries account for infestation on some grape varieties. The economic damage potential of D. suzukii is therefore enormous due to its high biotic potential. Experiences with insecticide applications show that efficient crop protection is difficult to attain. Furthermore, the range of registered products against D. suzukii is quite limited (Boselli et al., 2012). Thus, the elaborated pest risk assessment of the EPPO (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization) concluded that D. suzukii is an important pest of soft fruits, stone fruits and grapes in most parts of the EPPO region.

The project's main objectives were:

- to characterize the potential dispersal of D. suzukii in Europe by large scale monitoring;

- to characterize/identify the most behaviourally-active volatiles emitted by fruits host of D. suzukii in order to develop more selective and powerful attractant lures;

- to test the efficacy of environmentally sound methods such as physical barriers, mass-trapping and mating disruption;

- to characterize/identify the occurrence and level of incidence of natural enemies, in particular parasitoids