Laboratory survival of Drosophila suzukii under simulated winter conditions of the Pacific Northwest and seasonal field trapping in five primary regions of small and stone fruit production in the United States.

Background: Drosophila suzukii was first found in Oregon in August 2009. The threat of this pest to regional small and stone fruit production industries led to investigations on its overwintering capabilities in fruit-growing regions in the Pacific Northwest. Knowledge of its cold tolerance will help in the development of computer models to forecast seasonal population growth and decline.

Results: Of 1500 adults or pupae, 22 (1.4%) individuals survived the 84 day experimental chilling period. Most (86%) of the survivors were subjected to 10 °C temperature treatments. Survival decreased significantly at lower temperature treatments. Freezing temporarily increased the mortality rate but did not significantly affect overall mortality over the trial period. Flies that emerged from pupae are estimated to survive for up to 103-105 days at 10 °C and for shorter periods at lower temperatures. Field trapping in five fruit production areas has demonstrated overwintering survival in California and Oregon, but lower survival is predicted in Eastern Washington and Michigan.

Conclusion: The experiments reported here indicate that long-term survival of D. suzukii is unlikely at temperatures below 10 °C. Field data from five climatic regions indicated extended low initial D. suzukii field presence in 2010 in all regions except California, where field presence was recorded earlier.