By Charlotte Glen
NC State Extension Master Gardener℠ volunteers aren’t just growing plants—they’re growing knowledge, too. By participating in research and community science projects, volunteers help scientists answer questions that can lead to more sustainable gardening and pest management practices.
In a statewide research project led by Dr. Hannah Levenson of NC State University, Extension Master Gardener volunteers helped investigate spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, or SWD, and a tiny parasitoid wasp, Leptopilina japonica, that may help control it.
SWD is an invasive fruit fly that damages ripening fruit. It has disrupted blackberry, blueberry, raspberry and strawberry production across the country and contributed to increased pesticide use. Unlike most fruit flies, which are attracted primarily to overripe or damaged fruit, SWD can lay its eggs in healthy, ripening fruit.
Although SWD prefers cultivated fruit crops, it can also survive and reproduce in wild and ornamental fruits. These alternative host plants may support populations that later move into commercial fields. At the same time, the plants may also sustain parasitoid wasps and other natural enemies that help suppress the pest.
Most research on these interactions has focused on commercial farms. Home gardens, community plantings, and urban landscapes have received less attention, even though they may influence how both SWD and its natural enemies survive and spread.
Source : ncsu.edu