Last year my dwarf sour cherry was first time infected with white-cream colored maggots. I did some reading, and ended up with several possibility of what it was. Whatever it is, it should be a fly. So I am not sure how much exactly I can do to prevent it unless I cover whole tree with tulle. I cover it with bird netting anyway, so it is not any harder to use tulle. So here comes two questions: when has it to be done, and what to do with last year bugs that overwintered under the tree. The easiest set up for cover is a cage, and cover to the ground. But then overwintered bugs from the ground that is under the cover will emerge and damage the cherries inside. I see two ways to deal with it - first, tie the cover around the trunk, instead pinning it to the ground (kind of not that easy) and second - mulch heavily with wood chips(how high?) or use some landscaping fabric? In both cases I will have to cover low part of the trunk - will it be OK for the time cherries getting ready? And just for the records - I hate flying bastards…
Thanks, this is one of the possible suspects…
Galinas,
SWD is really bad news. There seems to be more new pests every year.
I’m hoping it’s something other than swd in the NE.
Last year it was such a struggle. My son and I spent an hour a day picking up peach drops for some of the season. We picked up enough to fill up the pickup every day. We had so many drops because the continual rain had rendered peaches unsaleable for a while.
Even then, we still had clouds of swd, if we didn’t spray for it weekly.
This is an extremely serious major pest in this area.
I decided what I will do. I only have one tree - I already made a huge bag from Agribon Insect barrier. I am going to put it on to wrap whole tree and tie around the trunk. Only question I have when to put it on. I guess not earlier then I see green cherries, but how far in the season - I am not sure… I am worry about aphids can spread under it… Also it cover some sun and create a warmer and more wet environment. So I want to minimize the time it is on…
Want to see your Agribon barrier.
SWD is a big bad news if they are here as all soft fruit esp. Brambles will be their targets.
It also could be Rhagoletis fausta (black cherry fruit fly) or eastern cherry fruit fly (Rhagoletis cingulata) as well as Drosophila suzukii(Spotted wing drosophila). But I guess in my case it makes no difference… unless they emerge different times…
I will make a picture when it is on. For now it is just a bag made from a piece 26’ X 9’ just stapled two 9’ sides together and stapled one of the other ends. For SWD - I looked at the map… There is no data for MA, but for ME it says established (what ever it means). Map
My impression is cherry fruit fly is the most common reason for maggots in cherries, they are a common malady. I don’t have SWD (yet) but my impression was it shows up later than cherry harvest?
That I really don’t know yet, didn’t find the information on when SWD is emerging in our area… But I guess for my little orchard there is no big difference, who spoils every cherry) . The cherry tree goes undercover. 
Scott,
They show up w/ the cherry harvest here. Last year we didn’t expect them to show up so early, but they did. We had harvested cherries w/o them, but as the cherry season progressed, they snuck up on us and the cherries were so infested we had to let them fall.
The good news is they don’t show up in the strawberry season.
Use of an apple cider vinegar trap will indicate when flies are present, check daily or simply apply tree wrap some days after peak bloom.
1st week or so of August I’ve caught SWD in my traps in NYC. They have become a MAJOR pest, so much so, I’ve switched all my fall bearing brambles for summer bearing, and I picked the earliest ripening cherry trees to plant that I could get my hands on (Pearl Series). I will use spinosad when the time comes I think.
Thanks, this is what i was going to do - install wrap after the bloom. just want to wait until flowers that didn’t form berries drop- if it happens inside it will be huge mess in and road to brown rot…
I wondering, if SWD is what damage my fall raspberries. June crop is usually fine, but august one - I have to freeze and use frozen, otherwise the eggs develop even in wine set up.
Putting some fruit in salt water will cause larva to emerge. Adult SWD are very easy to identify, even without traps. Place “bait” fruit on an easily viewed surface and see what lands.
Unfortunately, with raspberries, when you already able to see larva the berry is usually a toast - it starts to ferment or mold. The problem is, that the perfectly good berries become uneatable in hours, when eggs start to develop into larva. So for me only freezing works. I make wine from frozen raspberries, otherwise I end up with larva on top of my fermenting berries.
Boy I am really not looking forward to this guy showing up in my yard. I do a lot of Surround/spinosad on my fruit trees and it sounds like that will need to be extended to all plants.