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In temperate regions, generalist insect pests are expected to use multiple habitats and host plant species over the different seasons. Landscape composition and configuration can also provide a diversity of thermal resources and host plants that can modify insect activity and movement. Here, we described the seasonal spatial distribution of a destructive invasive pest, spotted wing drosophila (SWD), along a gradient of landscape composition (i.e. proportion of forest habitat) and configuration (i.e. length of forest edge). We selected a triplet of habitat patches (forest, vineyard and grassland) in 17 landscapes in North-eastern Italy characterised by different proportions of forest and forest edge length and monitored pest activity density for 1 year. We found that during the cold season, SWD mostly occupied forest habitats, which were suitable overwintering sites due to ideal microclimatic conditions. During plant-growing season, SWD occurred equally in the three habitats, probably due to warmer temperatures in open areas as well as high food and host availability. In summer, when high temperatures can be limiting, landscapes with large forest edge length presented an increase in activity density compared to landscapes with less amount of edges, irrespective of the total cover of forest. Large edge length indicated landscapes with high contact zones between forest and open habitats, probably favouring spillover of individuals in SWD. In the light of these results, pest control in crop fields located in landscapes with complex configurations can be particularly challenging. The high density in non-crop habitats suggests that this invasive species can have pervasive impact also on wild plant species occurring in semi-natural and natural habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The knowledge of the endemic drosophilid assemblage is a useful reference to study population dynamics when new species are introduced in a geographical area. The introduction of invasive species can change the structure of the drosophilid community; hence, the distribution data for endemic species are also essential to support efficient pest management. We provide the first description of the natural drosophilid populations (Diptera Drosophilidae) recorded in Apulia, in Southern Italy. The flies, which were collected in a field survey throughout a year, were classified by morphological and molecular analyses by sequencing the barcode fragment of the COI mtDNA gene. The identified species show a distribution of frequencies that varies throughout the year, reflecting a seasonal life cycle peculiar to each species. Among the recorded drosophilids, the potential pest species Drosophila suzukii represents one of the four most abundant species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]