Decoy for SWD
Claire Winslow, PhD student
The spotted wing drosophila (SWD) is an invasive vinegar fly that infests soft-skinned fruit. Since its emergence in North America over a decade ago, overreliance on broad spectrum insecticides has led to insecticide resistance and secondary pest outbreaks, so alternative products, such as Decoy, are under evaluation. Decoy is a non-chemical attractant bait, that is housed inside a cage-like dispenser that can be easily hooked onto above-ground irrigation tubing within a commercial field. When irrigated, the cherry-based bait releases attractant volatiles into the air, distracting SWD from laying eggs in the actual fruit and lessening overall fruit damage in a commercial field. Successful trials in California and Oregon displayed significant reduction of SWD fruit infestation in laboratory and field settings. Through our lab and field trials, we discovered that irrigation rate was an important factor to the product’s success in disrupting SWD’s host-finding cues.
For more information:
Presentation:
Slideshow from the 2025 PNWIMC Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon by Claire Winslow (PDF).
