UMaine Extension Specialists Interviewed About Fruit Fly

David Handley and Jim Dill of University of Maine Cooperative Extension were interviewed for a Lewiston Sun Journal article about the spotted wing drosophila, a fruit fly that has Maine’s blueberry growers worried because it attacks ripening and not just rotten fruit. Handley, a vegetable and small fruit specialist based at UMaine Extension’s Highmoor Farm in Monmouth, said the fly could have huge impacts on the wild blueberry industry. Dill, a pest management specialist, described his efforts to trap the flies and his plans next year to research ways to stop the flies. A number of other Maine and regional media outlets, including the Boston Globe website ran an Associated Press version of the story.

Contact: Jessica Bloch, (207) 581-3777