Fruit flies take toll on strawberries

It’s hard enough to grow sweet and tasty strawberries let alone a crop-eating pest destroying your patch.  Clemson University reports that the fruit-eating spotted wing drosphila has been found in a strawberry patch in Beaufort County for the first time.  Growers should take action to protect their harvests.  Cooperative Extension agent Zachary Snipes says the fruit fly was found in a patch Friday and had already damaged 70 to 80% of the grower’s red fruit.  The fruit fly has been found in parts of South Carolina before, but is more common from summer to fall.