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Insect of the Month - Currant Fruit Fly | |
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| Euphranta canadensis
Crops Affected:
Black, red and white currants, gooseberries
Life Cycle:
- Adult is a small fly, pale to dark yellow in colour, with a banded pattern on the wings
- Adults emerge around mid-May to early June
- Adults lay 1 egg under the skin of the each developing green fruit, with egg laying lasting for up to one month. Each female can lay up to 165 eggs over her lifespan
- Surviving eggs hatch within approximately 1 week, and feed on the seeds within the berry for approximately 2 weeks
- Larvae go through 3 instars over the course of their development. Late instars drill a hole in the fruit to breathe
- Infested fruit (fruit that have an egg placed under the skin) will ripen and drop prematurely; some fruit will remain on the tree
- Mature larvae leave the fruit and drop to the ground to pupate in the soil close to the base of the plant
Symptoms:
- Infested fruit may contain maggots
Monitoring:
- Adult flies can be found out of direct sunlight on leaves at the centre of the plant. Shaded plants will have more flies that plants in sunny locations
- Adults can be found where fruit are occurring
- Yellow sticky traps baited with apple maggot attractant can be hung within the bush at fruit level from green fruit to early harvest to monitor adult numbers.
- Examine dropped fruit for the presence of whitish eggs under the surface of the skin
- Egg-laying sites may have a slight brownish discolouration around the wound
Management:
- Regular, daily collection and removal of fallen fruit may result in a gradual reduction in the number of flies
- Cultivation of soil beneath bushes will disturb soil and expose pupating larvae to potential predators
- Pick fruit late to avoid maggoty fruit
- Later maturing varieties are preferred by CFF
- Apply registered chemicals to control adults – consult label for details
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For more information about the content of this document, contact Robert Spencer.
This information published to the web on March 26, 2018.
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