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How to Manage Pests

UC Pest Management Guidelines

| More pests | More crops | About guidelines |

An adult vinegar fly or small fruit fly, Drosophila sp.

Grape

Vinegar Flies

Scientific names: Drosophila melanogaster, D. simulans, and other species

(Reviewed 6/06, updated 10/08)

In this Guideline:

DESCRIPTION OF THE PESTS

Various species of Drosophila are known as vinegar or pomace flies. Adults are small, yellowish flies and are commonly attracted to fermenting fruit of all kinds. Populations build up as the fruit harvest season progresses. The 0.25-inch-long maggot-shaped larva can be found in cull and damaged fruit in the vineyards. Oblong pupae occur wherever larvae are found and have a forked breathing tube at one end. The life cycle in summer is only 7 to 8 days, with the adult laying 700 to 800 eggs in a 20- to 30-day life span.

DAMAGE

Vinegar fly is a problem of damaged or cracked fruit. Eggs are laid in damaged or exposed fleshy tissue and larvae feed on the berries. The primary damage by this pest, however, is the sour rot organisms that it vectors from bunch to bunch in the vineyard.

MANAGEMENT

The key to controlling vinegar fly is to reduce the incidence of summer bunch rot. Good fertilizer and irrigation management and use of gibberellins (Thompson Seedless only) may reduce the number of tight bunches, thus decreasing the incidence of bunch rot. Good sanitation practices in storage or processing plants are helpful in reducing populations of this pest. Preharvest treatments are not effective; pyrethrin materials are used postharvest to kill adult flies. In table grapes, note the presence of vinegar flies at harvest as an indicator of bunch rot diseases.

Common name Amount/Acre** R.E.I.+ P.H.I.+
(trade name)   (hours) (days)
When choosing a pesticide, consider information relating to impact on natural enemies and honey bees and environmental impact. Not all registered pesticides are listed. Always read label of product being used.
 
POSTHARVEST
A. PYRETHRIN/PIPERONYL BUTOXIDE
  (Pyrenone Crop Spray) Label rates 12 NA
  MODE OF ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 3 and 27A
  COMMENTS: Spray containers with 1 pt/150 gal water and as needed. Apply to fruit in field, storage, or processing plants.
 
** Apply with enough water to provide complete coverage.
1 Rotate chemicals with a different mode-of-action Group number, and do not use products with the same mode-of-action Group number more than twice per season to help prevent the development of resistance. For example, the organophosphates have a Group number of 1B; chemicals with a 1B Group number should be alternated with chemicals that have a Group number other than 1B. Mode of action Group numbers are assigned by IRAC (Insecticide Resistance Action Committee). For additional information, see their Web site at http://www.irac-online.org/.
NA Not applicable.

[Precautions]

PUBLICATION

[UC Peer Reviewed]

UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines: Grape
UC ANR Publication 3448
Insects and Mites
W. J. Bentley, UC IPM Program, Kearney Agricultural Research Center, Parlier
L. G. Varela, UC IPM Program, Sonoma County
F. G. Zalom, Entomology, UC Davis
R. J. Smith, UC Cooperative Extension, Sonoma County
A. H. Purcell, Environmental Science, Policy and Management, UC Berkeley
P. A. Phillips, UC IPM Program, Ventura County
D. R. Haviland, UC IPM Program, Kern County
K. M. Daane, Kearney Agricultural Research Center, Parlier
M. C. Battany, UC Cooperative Extension, San Luis Obispo County
Acknowledgment for contributions to Insects and Mites:
J. Granett, Entomology, UC Davis

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Statewide IPM Program, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California
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