A parasitoid wasp that is the natural enemy of the spotted-wing drosophila was recently been found in United States for the first time.
The drosophila flies cause major damage to several Washington crops, especially sweet cherries and berries. The wasp, which lays its eggs in the flies, could be a means of controlling the spread of the former.
Elizabeth Beers, a professor in WSU's Department of Entomology: "This is really a positive step for the cherry and berry industries. Hopefully this speeds up the timeline to get biological control of the spotted-wing drosophila."
Beers and her team found the parasitoid, called Ganaspis brasiliensis, this September, in a wild blackberry patch less than a mile from the Canadian border near Lynden, Washington.
Source: phys.org