Sea buckthorn fruit fly, Rhagoletis batava Hering, 1958 (Diptera: Tephritidae)in Europe

Abstract: Numerous Rhagoletis species are economically important pests of different fruits.Although the sea buckthorn fruit fly (Rhagoletis batava) has been first described from Europe(The Netherlands), for a long time this species was only known as important pest of seabuckthorn in Siberia, especially in Altay region. Kolomiec (1970) believed that the Siberianpopulation was a separate subspecies of Rhagoletis batava and described it as subspecies,Rhagoletis batava obscuriosa. Notwithstanding the fact that Rhagoletis batava alreadyoccurred in several European countries in the past, serious damage of sea buckthorn fruit wasnot observed, like in Siberia. It is only in the last 15 years that the intensive spread ofRhagoletis batava in Europe has been observed; first in the European part of the RussianFederation, then later in Belarus and eventually Germany, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland,where serious damages has been observed. According to the latest confirmed information(data until the end of 2017), in Europe Rhagoletis batava has been recorded in Belarus,Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,Russian Federation (European part, excluding Kaliningrad Region), Spain, Sweden,Switzerland and The Netherlands. A report from Hungary was a mistake and Rhagoletisbatava in this country remains unconfirmed.