Susceptibility of sixteen strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) cultivars to Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura, 1931) (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in Southwestern Spain

Abstract

The susceptibility of the newest and most used strawberry cultivars to the Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) in southwestern Spain was evaluated. Sixteen strawberry cultivarswere selected (‘Calderón’, ‘Calinda’, ‘Charlene’, ‘Flaminia’, ‘Flavia’, ‘Fortuna’, ‘Marisol’,‘Marquis’, ‘Melissa’, ‘Palmeritas’, ‘Petaluma’, ‘Plared0955’, ‘Primoris’, ‘Rábida’, ‘Rociera’and ‘Sabrina’) and no-choice tests were carried out under laboratory conditions. In addition, fruit weight, fruit firmness, °Brix, pH, protein content and total phenolic content were recorded in order to assess what influence these variables had on SWD infestation. The sixteen strawberry cultivars tested in this study were susceptible to SWD, although significant differences have been found among them. The mean number of emerged adults in ‘Calderon’ and ‘Plared0955’ were significantly higher than in the other tested cultivars. Significant differences in developmental time were also detected among these cultivars and both sexes but these were unrelated to the level of infestation. No correlation between fruit quality and chemical traits and infestation parameters was found. Our results detected significant differences in the susceptibility of strawberry cultivars in southwestern Spain to SWD; these may help to design IPM programs and to make recommendations for strawberry production, one of the most important crops in southern Europe.