Discovery may lead to better lure to detect fruit fly
Friday, August 10, 2012 - 06:30
in Biology & Nature
(Phys.org) -- A certain species of yeast that UC Davis researchers found in "almost all" their samples of raspberries and cherries infested by the spotted-wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) may lead to a better lure to detect the invasive pest in the field. A research team from the UC Davis Department of Entomology, the Department of Food Science and Technology, and a visiting professor from the University of Extremadura, Spain, found that the yeast, Hanseniaspora uvarum, appeared in just about every cherry, raspberry, and larva of the spotted-wing drosophila (SWD) that they sampled at collection points in Davis, Winters, and Watsonville.