Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Journal of Pest Science https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-020-01280-0 ORIGINAL PAPER First record of the invasive spotted wing Drosophila infesting berry crops in Africa Ahmed Boughdad 1  · Khalid Haddi 2  · Amir El Bouazzati 1  · Anas Nassiri 1  · Abdessalem Tahiri 1  · Chahrazade El Anbri 3  · Taoufk Eddaya 4  · Abedlhamid Zaid 3  · Antonio Biondi 5 Received: 19 May 2020 / Revised: 27 August 2020 / Accepted: 3 September 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract The spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Diptera: Drosophilidae), is an invasive pest native to Asia that has recently invaded Europe and the Americas. This pest can seriously compromise fruit production in infested crops and has a remarkable ability to invade new areas with a diverse range of environments. We report for the frst time D. suzukii infesta- tions in African crops. We sampled 101 felds cultivated with soft-skinned fruits in two regions of northwestern Morocco. Morphological and molecular analyses confrmed the occurrence of D. suzukii in this area. In 2017 and 2018, approximately 15% of the surveyed farms growing small berries were infested by D. suzukii. A total of 61.11% of the surveyed raspberry felds were infested, followed by blueberries (22.22%), strawberries (11.11%) and mulberries (5.56%). Peak infestations were between March and June and in November and December. We carried out preliminary mass trapping in a raspberry tunnel, and of the two traps used, the red-colored trap baited with baker’s yeast and sugar was the most efective. The results are discussed in the light of the invasion potential for the African continent and integrated pest management (IPM) perspectives for soft fruit production in Morocco. Keywords Drosophila suzukii · Invasive pest · Integrated pest management · Mass trapping · Morocco Key message • We found evidence of the presence of Drosophila suzukii in northwestern of Morocco since, at least, 2017. • Drosophila suzukii damage was found in raspberry, blue- berries, strawberries and mulberries crops. • Flying D. suzukii adults mainly occurred in the spring and late fall. • Mass trapping showed potential effectiveness for D. suzukii control strategies in raspberry tunnels. • Future research is urgently needed on the biology of D. suzukii, its wild and cultivated host, as well as natural enemies under local conditions. Introduction Invasive arthropod pests are increasingly establishing out- side of their native ranges worldwide mainly due to increas- ing global commercial exchanges and global warming (See- bens et al. 2016; Kirichenko et al. 2019; Santana et al. 2019; Communicated by M. Traugott. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-020-01280-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Ahmed Boughdad boughdad@enameknes.ac.ma * Antonio Biondi antonio.biondi@unict.it 1 Département de Protection des Plantes et de l’Environnement, Ecole Nationale d’Agriculture, B.P. S/40, Meknes, Morocco 2 Department of Entomology, Federal University of Lavras, Lavras, MG 37200-000, Brazil 3 Faculté des Sciences, Université Moulay Ismail, B.P. 11201, Meknes, Morocco 4 Institut des Techniciens Spécialisés en Horticulture, B.P. 4002, Meknes, Morocco 5 Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofa 100, 95123 Catania, Italy