Spotted Wing Drosophila present in Milton, Cambridgeshire

The soft fruit pest, Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD, Drosophila suzukii) has become established in the UK since my article back in 2012 http://www.miltoncontact-blog.com/2012/08/preparing-for-spotted-wing-drosophila.html. High resolution views of a male and female SWD were created from two specimens captured from my garden in Milton, Cambridge.

Results

This August, I set a fruit fly trap in my garden in Milton, Cambridgeshire, UK and captured my first Spotted Wing Drosophila. I found one male and two female SWD. In total the trap captured 39 insects, of which 36 were drosophila (fruit fly) species, three of which were SWD. High resolution views of a male and female SWD were created.

Male Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD)

Dorsal view: Male Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD, Drosophila suzukii)

Ventral view: Male Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD, Drosophila suzukii)

Lateral view: Male Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD, Drosophila suzukii)

Female Spotted Wing Drosophila

Dorsal view: Female Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD, Drosophila suzukii)

Lateral view: Female Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD, Drosophila suzukii)

Detail with serrated ovipositor: Female Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD, Drosophila suzukii)

Method

This August, I set a fruit fly trap in my garden in Milton, Cambridgeshire, UK and captured my first Spotted Wing Drosophila. I found one male and two female SWD. In total the trap captured 39 insects, of which 36 were drosophila (fruit fly) species, three of which were SWD. High resolution views of a male and female SWD were created.

The insects had been trapped in an apple juice/white vinegar mixture, spiked with a few drops of fairy liquid to kill the insects. The mixture was in a sealed plastic bottle, pierced with about 3 mm diameter holes. The bottle was suspended from an apple tree for a week from 22 August.

The insects were rinsed with water in a sieve and then stored in water with some white vinegar and 10% isopropanol overnight.

Individual flies were floated in a home made cavity slide (o-rings adhered to a microscope slide with paraffin wax), oriented just under the surface meniscus (dorsal side up/ventral side up/lateral view) and covered with a cover slip.

A series of between 130 to 190 photographs were taken through the focus from the base of the insect to the closest surface, using a Reichert Zetopan microscope with a 4x objective, 5x eyepiece and a mounted Nikon SLR. The images were used to create focus stacks with Heliconfocus software. Images were edited for contrast and colour balance an sharpened.