The European cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae),
is a highly destructive pest in sweet and sour cherry orchards with a
distribution area throughout Europe and the temperate regions of Asia. It
occurs regularly in all production regions of these fruit species in Serbia,
damaging up to 10% of cherries in commercial production, while damage can go
up to 100% in orchards and on solitary threes unprotected by control
measures. In Serbia, European cherry fruit fly most often attacks and damages
fruits of the lateripening cultivars of sweet cherry (Van, Stela,
Hedelfinger, Bing, Lambert, Drogan?s Yellow). After a sweet cherry harvest,
adults migrate to sour cherry where they continue feeding and ovipositing in
half-mature sour cherries (prevailingly the domestic ecotype Oblacinska).
During their activity period, larvae damage the fruits, so that they can no
longer be consumed either fresh or processed. The high percentage of sour
cherries damaged by R. cerasi has become a factor limiting exports because
the intensity of infestation of this fruit exceeds permissible limits.
Pesticide use for controlling this pest, especially in integrated production,
is based on a very poor selection of insecticides which cause problems with
residual ecotoxicity. Consequently, alternative measures for controlling
European cherry fruit fly have been intensively studied over the past few
years. This work surveys up-to-date results of various studies on the
European cherry fruit fly as a very important pest in Serbia and other South
and Mid-European countries. The work contains detailed descriptions of its
biological characteristics, flight phenology, infestation intensity and
possibilities of fly control in sweet and sour cherry production areas.
Rhagoletis cerasi Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae): Biological characteristics, harmfulness and control
