Help! Here in Powell River where little gets in except by plane or boat, we've been invaded and that by a species once considered highly improbable to ever reach our shores. But it's true. The SWDs have arrived with a vengeance and folks are up in arms about it.
Actually, up in nets, bait, traps, sprays and good gardening practices to be exact. As hard as it is to fathom or accept, a miniscule enemy by the exotic name of Spotted Wing Drosophila has taken up residence in the berry and cherry crops of the Upper Sunshine Coast. I make no claim to being an expert on insect anatomy but projected pictures of the tiny creatures show a somewhat attractive fly with the ability to destroy our backyard cherry crop and our always abundant raspberry harvest as well as those wild and succulent blackberries.
Earlier this week I, along with a number of other residents, attended an information meeting to learn how to detect, prevent and hopefully, rid our local gardens of these latest but most unwelcome invaders. One of the things that grabbed my attention during the presentations we heard was the difference in how these critters did their dastardly deeds. Lest I say things wrong, I'll leave you to research the topic for more information.
Here's what I took away from it all, though: SWDs are small, they have an almost lovely coloured pattern on their wings, it takes keen eyesight or a magnifying glass to identify them and they cause a huge amount of damage. Most sinister is their habit of infesting the fruit even before it is ripe.
"Catch for us the foxes [as in SWDs], the little [insects] foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom." (S of S 28:51)
"Lord, cleanse the 'little sins' in me."
