Effect of bait, bait age and wild host on captures of spotted wing drosophila in southern highbush blueberries

Field experiments were conducted in southern highbush blueberries, Vaccinium corymbosum L. x V. darrowi Camp to evaluate the attractiveness of bait types and age in capturing the spotted wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura). Four bait treatments that included 1) apple cidar vinegar (ACV) + detergent, 2) Yeast sugar water (YSW), 3) Rich’s mix (yeast, sugar, water, whole wheat flower, detergent, and ACV), and 4) Landolt’s mix (rice vinegar and merlot wine). The yeast baits (YSW and Rich’s mix) captured significantly more SWD than the vinegar baits (ACV and Landolt’s mix).   When ACV and YSW were allowed to age for 7 and 14 d there were no significant difference in SWD captures between 7 day and 14 day aged baits. However, capture rates for SWD fell significantly when exposed to 14 d aged yeast sugar water baits. The YSW baits attracted more thrips, ants, and Uliidae than the ACV whereas bait age did not have an effect on these non-target captures.

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