Abstract

The raspberry beetle, Byturus unicolor, is a major fruit contaminant of red raspberries in North America. Currently, over two-thirds of Washington State growers use calendar-based, non-IPM methods for controlling raspberry beetles. A 2-year grant project was conducted to assist growers' adoption of new pest monitoring and decision-making skills. Using a new raspberry beetle pest-monitoring tool, the Rebell Bianco trap, 8 raspberry growers representing over 800 hectares of red raspberry in Washington, USA, have participated in this project. Using trap data, all growers agreed that IPM is possible for managing raspberry beetles. The growers were able to relate trap data information, estimated fruit damage and management decisions to build a functional threshold for raspberry beetle. Additionally, the growers gained new knowledge and understanding of raspberry beetle population and spatial dynamics, biology and crop-border interactions.