Scientists work to on pest control of the spotted wing Drosophila suzukii

drosophila fruit fly

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Fruit growers battle new invasive Asian fly (Environmental News Service)

With the appearance last fall of tiny white maggots in a handful of blueberries, Oregon State University researchers identified the spotted wing drosophila, a pest never before documented in Oregon.

Scientists form ’swat’ team to combat pests (KVAL)

Scientists at Oregon State University are looking for ways to control the spotted wing Drosophila suzukii, otherwise called a vinegar fly.

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New pest spurs funding effort (Capital Press)

West Coast researchers may be in line for up to $5.7 million in specialty crop grant funding this summer to help fight the spotted wing Drosophila. The money could dramatically ramp up efforts to fight the pest and help the scientists develop long-term solutions, Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences Associate Dean Stella Coakley said.

blibe

Emergency drosophila meeting set for Saturday (Western Farmer-Stockman)

The Portland meeting will be hosted by Oregon State University, the Oregon Department of Agriculture, Washington State University, the University of California and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Fruit flies invade Oregon (KGW)

Researchers at OSU are racing to stop invasive pests.

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Bug lady gets down and dirty with invading Asian flies (Oregonian)

Entomology has taken Amy Dreves around the world. She spent four years in the West Indies, two of them with the Peace Corps. She’s worked in Mali, Nepal, Alaska, South America, Morocco and other parts of Africa with government agencies and private companies. She holds a master’s and doctorate from Oregon State, where she now works for the university’s Extension Service.

Scientists race against crop-destroying fruit flies (Bend Bulletin)

It’s research in a rush, carried out in sophisticated fly-rearing cabinets with light and temperature controls and outdoors with traps jury-rigged from plastic soda containers, a slosh of apple cider vinegar and sticky fly paper. The team, drawn from Oregon State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is trying to determine how well spotted wing Drosophila survived the winter, predict when it will emerge this spring and learn about its food preference, reproduction rates and life cycles. (See also the Oregonian)