Monitoring of Spotted-Wing Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae) Resistance Status Using a RAPID Method for Assessing Insecticide Sensitivity Across the United States

Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) has spread rapidly, challenging berry and cherry crop production due to its ability to lay eggs into ripening fruit. To prevent infestation by this pest, insecticides are applied during fruit ripening and harvest. We field-tested the Rapid Assessment Protocol for IDentification of resistance in D. suzukii (RAPID) on seventy-eight populations collected across eight U.S. states in 2017 and 2018. Exposure to LC50 rates of malathion, methomyl, spinetoram, spinosad, and zeta-cypermethrin led to average female fly mortality of 25.0% in 2017, and after adjusting concentrations the average was 39.9% in 2018. Using LC99 x 2 discriminating concentrations in 2017 and LC90 x 8 rates in 2018, average female mortalities were 93.3% and 98.5%, respectively, indicating high overall susceptibility. However, using these high concentrations we found 32.0% of assays with survival of some female flies in 2017 and 27.8% in 2018. The adjustment in discriminating dose from 2017 to 2018 also reduced the proportion of assays with <90% survival from 17.6 to 2.9%. Populations with low mortality when exposed to spinosad were identified using this assay, triggering more detailed follow-up bioassays that identified resistant populations collected in California coastal region berry crops. Widespread evaluations of this method and subsequent validation in California, Michigan, and Georgia in 2019-2021 show that it provides a quick and low-cost method to identify populations of D. suzukii that warrant more detailed testing. Our results also provide evidence that important insecticide classes remain effective in most U.S. regions of fruit production.

Automated summary

Drosophila suzukii has become a challenge in berry and cherry crop production due to its ability to lay eggs in ripening fruit. Insecticides are commonly used to prevent infestation, and this study evaluated the resistance of D. suzukii populations collected across eight U.S. states. The results showed high overall susceptibility to insecticides, but also identified populations with resistance to spinosad, highlighting the need for further testing.