Rhagoletis cerasi Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae) – Biological Characteristics, Harmfulness, and Control

The European cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae), is a highlydestructive pest in sweet and sour cherry orchards with a distribution area throughoutEurope and the temperate regions of Asia. It occurs regularly in all production regions ofthese 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 controlmeasures.In Serbia, European cherry fruit fly most often attacks and damages fruits of the lateripeningcultivars of sweet cherry (Van, Stela, Hedelfinger, Bing, Lambert, Drogan’s Yellow).After a sweet cherry harvest, adults migrate to sour cherry where they continue feedingand ovipositing in half-mature sour cherries (prevailingly the domestic ecotype Obla inska).During their activity period, larvae damage the fruits, so that they can no longer be consumedeither fresh or processed. The high percentage of sour cherries damaged by R. cerasihas become a factor limiting exports because the intensity of infestation of this fruitexceeds permissible limits. Pesticide use for controlling this pest, especially in integratedproduction, is based on a very poor selection of insecticides which cause problems withresidual ecotoxicity. Consequently, alternative measures for controlling European cherryfruit 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 flyas a very important pest in Serbia and other South and Mid-European countries. The workcontains detailed descriptions of its biological characteristics, flight phenology, infestationintensity and possibilities of fly control in sweet and sour cherry production areas.