Factors Limiting Peach as a Potential Host for Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

Abstract

The spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii Matsumura, has widely established in North America and become an economic concern for a variety of fruit crops. To better understand fruit susceptibility, we evaluated peach surface characteristics on the pest's oviposition success. The number of D. suzukii eggs laid into the fruit flesh was tested on 1) peaches with or without indumenta (commonly referred to as peach fuzz), 2) peaches physically damaged by harvest operations, 3) peaches damaged by the peach twig borer Anarsia lineatella Zeller or the forktailed bush katydid, Scudderia furcata Brunner von Wattenwyl, and 4) peaches with punctures that simulated stink bug damage. Female D. suzukii did not lay eggs in intact fuzzy sections of the fruit or into small punctures (0.3 or 0.5 mm), but readily laid eggs in sections without fuzz, with insect damage, and with large punctures (1 mm). The number of eggs per treatment was positively related to the area of the damaged section; the overall fruit firmness and sugar content was not related to the number of eggs laid in treated or damaged spots. Direct observations of D. suzukii oviposition confirmed that peach fuzz appeared to be an obstacle for the fly's oviposition success, and female flies ceased ovipositional attempts on fuzzy peach sections after a short period of time. Successful oviposition times were associated with substrate firmness, with shorter oviposition time in damaged spots than in cherry fruit or shaved spots of the peach. The results indicate that intact, preharvest peach fruit are unlikely to be infested by the fly, but any surface damage could render the fruit susceptible to the fly.

Keywords: Drosophila suzukii; firmness; indumenta; peach fuzz; stone fruit.