Bad bug bodes badly for berries

By LAUREN GENTILE
Capital News Service
LANSING – It’s the bug to keep your eyes open for — if you can even see it. Measuring at less than one-sixteenth of an inch, the spotted wing drosophila is taking a tough toll on next year’s blueberry season. The tiny insect was first spotted in the state in 2010 and has been plaguing farmers ever since, said Robert Tritten, district fruit educator for Michigan State University Extension in Genesee County. “This is an invasive pest that comes from some other part of the world and it moves like we do as nomads,” Tritten said. Tritten said the insect arrived like many other invasive species — through the importation of fruits and vegetables.