Developing and Implementing Green Pesticides to Monitor and Manage the Invasive Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) in Berry Production in the Delmarva Region

The Project's long-term goal is to enhance the production of berries by helping growers adopt IPM practices to manage the population of SWD. More importantly, this Project might help by 1) reducing the frequent use of chemical pesticides, 2) Improving the environment for beneficial arthropods (pollinators and natural enemies), 3) Reducing health risks for farm workers, 4) Slowing resistance development in SWD and other pests, and 5) Promote the implementation of successful IPM programs. Specifically, we propose to develop and disseminate effective IPM programs to target SWD and other insect pests affecting berries production. Specific objectives are to:Examine and screen green pesticides and their analog blends for toxicity (flask bioassay) and repellency (cage bioassay) against SWD using laboratory-maintained colonies of fruit flies.2.Assess SWD antennal response to select attractant and repellent compounds selected from objective one using gas chromatography coupled with an electroantennogram detector (GC-EAD).3.Evaluate the catch efficacy of lab and greenhouse-selected insect attractant and repellent biochemical pesticides and compare with commercially available SWD traps under field conditions.Field testing of suitable blends with promising green pesticides in a push-pull system (repellent and attractants) against SWD and other important agricultural insect pests of berries.Evaluate the impact of the select attractants and repellents on beneficial insects.6.Develop an extension outreach program to introduce the SWD managing method and educate farmers on the impact of SWD on thin-skinned fruits such as blackberries, elderberries, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and red and black raspberries.