Exploring the influence of habitat, ground refugia and behavioral strategies on the overwintering success of Drosophila suzukii, Matsumura

Abstract

The overwintering biology of Drosophila suzukii is poorly understood. While thermal tolerance studies suggest that winter morphotype females likely survive harsh winters given physiological changes that lead to cold-hardening, additional factors such as habitat selection are likely important but poorly understood. In the present study, we conducted a field study at three vineyard sites to investigate winter habitat selection, a semi-field study to measure survival outcomes depending on various ground refugia, and a laboratory study to evaluate vertical movement in response to simulated flood conditions often observed in winter.