Effect of Cherry Cultivar and Trapping Height on Population Dynamics of Drosophilid Fruit Flies in Cherry Orchards in Northern China v1

In recent years, fruit flies (Drosophilidae) in cherry treesin northern China have become an increasingly serious problem. In this study, we examined the species composition and dynamics of fruit flies in cherry orchards by lure traps placed at different heights, and in three different cherry cultivarsfrom April through September, between 2014-2016in Qingdao, Shandong Province. The total number of fruit flies increased year by year.Four species were captured: Drosophila melanogaster Meigen, D.suzukii Matsumura, D.hydei Sturtevant, and D.immigransSturtevant. The dominant species wasD. melanogaster, being 66.7% of the total, followed byD. suzukii Matsumura (29.7%). D. hydei and D. immigrans accounted for 3.0 and 0.6%, and for these last two species, no peak period of abundance was observed. In general, drosophilid fruit flies appeeraed inApril, and peakedaround mid-July. Over the three years of the study, peak fruit fly abundance was later each year, being at the end of June in 2014, and in the middle of July in 2015 and 2016. There were significant differences in the number ofDrosophilaspecies among cherry cultivarsas well asin the number of Drosophilatrapped at different heights.The optimal height for trap placement was at 1m above ground level, which is recommended as a standard height for monitoring trap placement.