ESA Southeastern Branch Meeting Online Program
Impact of cold temperature of the development of Drosophila suzkii
Drosophila suzukii (commonly referred to as the spotted wing drosophila) is a
significant invasive pest of soft skinned fruits that has been detected throughout
the United States, D. suzukii larvae feed on numerous economically important
crops, and females preferentially lay their eggs in ripe and ripening fruit rather than
rotting fruits like most other Drosophila spp. To aid in post harvest management of
this potentially devastating pest, my project aimed to study the effects of storage
temperatures (5° and 3.89°C) on immature life stages. We first created a timeline
for D. suzukii development at 20°C and used this information to expose each stage
to a set temperature for 6, 12, 24, and 72 hours. We hypothesized that D. suzukii
mortality rates would differ between life stages (eggs; first, second, and third
instar larvae; and pupae) and that mortality would be higher during longer storage
periods. Our results indicate that cold storage slows D. suzukii developement rate
and decreases survivorship of larvae.
