The use of light spectrum blocking films to reduce populations of Drosophila suzukii Matsumura in fruit crops

Michelle T Fountain,Sebastian Hemer,Frederick Davis,Michael Mangan,Simon Pearson,Amir Badiee,Colin Dowding,Alvaro Delgado

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-72074-8

Michelle T Fountain, Sebastian Hemer + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-72074-8

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Abstract

Spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, is a serious invasive pest impacting the production of multiple fruit crops, including soft and stone fruits such as strawberries, raspberries and cherries. Effective control is challenging and reliant on integrated pest management which includes the use of an ever decreasing number of approved insecticides. New means to reduce the impact of this pest that can be integrated into control strategies are urgently required. In many production regions, including the UK, soft fruit are typically grown inside tunnels clad with polyethylene based materials. These can be modified to filter specific wavebands of light. We investigated whether targeted spectral modifications to cladding materials that disrupt insect vision could reduce the incidence of D. suzukii. We present a novel approach that starts from a neuroscientific investigation of insect sensory systems and ends with infield testing of new cladding materials inspired by the biological data. We show D. suzukii are predominantly sensitive to wavelengths below 405 nm (ultraviolet) and above 565 nm (orange & red) and that targeted blocking of lower wavebands (up to 430 nm) using light restricting materials reduces pest populations up to 73% in field trials.

Highlights

Spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, is a serious invasive pest impacting the production of multiple fruit crops, including soft and stone fruits such as strawberries, raspberries and cherries
Initial laboratory choice tests investigated the spectral sensitivity of D. suzukii before comparing their spectral preferences
The ratio of insects choosing to approach each stimulus after 30 min exposure was used to define the attraction index (AI)

Summary

Introduction

Drosophila suzukii, is a serious invasive pest impacting the production of multiple fruit crops, including soft and stone fruits such as strawberries, raspberries and cherries. Approaches which can reduce or interfere with the D. suzukii lifecycle are needed to reduce disruption to IPM strategies and damage to fruit Most commonly this is done using olfactory cues, for example, sex or aggregation pheromones which attract pests into a trap or away from the crop[8]. Mass traps using non-species-specific fermenting baits are employed around crops to reduce populations in wild habitats but these are not effective within the crop once it is fruiting[9] Another approach might be to interfere with visual cues via spectral modifications to greenhouse cladding materials. This approach has been deployed to modify plant habit[10,11], reduce the impact of fungal p athogens[12] and insect pests, typically in the Hemipitera and Thysanoptera orders[13,14]. Insect larvae show an aversion to UV light[25]

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