Dear readers, I have never been so excited to sort through trap catch from spotted-wing drosophila (SWD) monitoring traps (Figure 1A) as I have these last few weeks!! And it’s not just because I’m a bug nerd over here, ha!
Figure 1. A petri dish containing insects collected in a spotted-wing drosophila Scentry jar monitoring trap (A) and a single, tiny parasitoid wasp in the family Figitidae (B).
This season, as I’ve been looking through the contents of SWD jar traps, I’ve seen many, tiny parasitoid wasps (Figure 1B) that I’ve never seen before – and upon closer inspection and a search of the literature, I believe these tiny wasps are parasitoids of SWD larvae!!! That’s right: a parasitoid of the fly that has been ruining all our delicious small fruits for the last…forever! I have not confirmed the species yet, but the wasp is in the family Figitidae, which includes several species that search out SWD larvae (maggots) while they are inside the fruit to lay eggs in them, which ultimately KILLS THEM. Aren’t insects amazing?! For every pest, there is a natural enemy, and finding this wasp in SWD monitoring traps indicates to me that they are out in the environment, searching out SWD (and other vinegar fly) larvae and helping us suppress them, right here in Indiana! A research article published earlier this year has also indicated captures of these same parasitoid wasps in Michigan. This is good news as we continue to battle SWD in small fruit production!