What is it?
Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) is an invasive species of fruit fly that lays its eggs in thin-skinned fruits, such as blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. Due to its rapid reproductive rate and their ability to use over 100+ fruits for reproduction makes management of the destructive pest extremely difficult.
Invasion of the Spotted Wing Drosophila
- First introduced in California (2008) and have rapidly spread across the USA
- Warmer conditions due to global warming speeds up the exponential growth of SWD breeding
- Known to entomologists and farmers as one of the fastest spreading invasive pests that we know of – Entomologist Hugh Phillip
- In Western US production areas, SWD may cause up to $500 million in annual losses assuming 30% damage levels, and $207 million in Eastern US production regions
– Racheal E Goodhue – Professor at the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California
Economic Impact
National crop loss from SWD in the USA has been estimated to potentially exceed $718 million annually, and costs directly related to management practices are estimated to be between $129 – 172 million – Mark Bolda – SWD Expert, Farm Advisor and one of the first to identify and draw attention to SWD
