<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;line-height:130%"> Corvallis, OR</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">4.25.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>An infestation of the spotted wing drosophila is threatening berries in Oregon.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Wet springs, warm but not too hot summers and an abundance of wild blackberries have led to increased numbers of the flies which can which can ruin berry and cherry crops.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img class="small-cropped-image" src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacySmallCroppedImages/fly042613body.jpg" alt="Images 042313" />"(It) has gotten worse every year and certainly is not going to get better, said Rick Hilton, an entomologist with the Oregon State University Extension Service in Jackson County.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The fly came from Asia four years ago and has infested the entire United States, preferring to lay its larvae on cherries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, making them unfit to eat or market, Hilton said, as reported by the Mail Tribune.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"They're still increasing in numbers and they have no problem living in the Rogue Valley," says Hilton, noting the wet springs of 2010 and 2011 aided in the spread. "A lot of small growers are having to spray (insecticides) a lot more than they used to."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img class="small-cropped-image" src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacySmallCroppedImages/fly042613body2.jpg" alt="Images 042313" />Vaughn Walton, an entomologist with the OSU Extension Service in Corvallis, said it appears this season will be similar to, or worse than 2012, which was the worst on record.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"Winter and spring temperatures in the Pacific Northwest have been warmer than last year, and heat equals larger populations of spotted wing drosophila," Walton said.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Hilton teaches small farm operators how to do "mass trapping" and spraying to keep the insect at bay. He teaches that vinegar traps the flies because it smells like rotting and fermenting fruit.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"If growers put on the proper control measures, they can control it," said Shearer. "These (chemicals) are about the only way they can."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Organic fruit growers, who do not apply chemical pesticides, have fewer defenses against the fly, but, noted Peter Shearer, an OSU entomologist., are finding some success with Entrust from Dow AgroSciences. Entrust uses naturally occurring soil bacteria to combat the bug.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"They're attracted to red and really home in on cherries," said Hilton. "Then you can't market them ... some growers have been able to cull out infested fruit after harvesting, though."</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1125158-scientists-take-bite-out-of-new-apple" target="_new">Fruit Fly Report </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
