First report of Grapholita inopinata in the European part of the Russian Federation
In the Russian Federation, the Manchurian fruit moth Grapholita inopinata (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae, EPPO A2 List) is known to occur in the eastern part of the territory, mainly in Eastern Siberia and the Far East. To determine the westernmost distribution of G. inopinata and assess its abundance, a nine-year pheromone monitoring programme across 13 administrative regions of Russia was conducted from 2014 to 2018 and 2021 to 2024 in private and state-owned gardens.
In the Asian part of the Russian Federation, observations were made in eight regions: one in in Eastern Siberia: Irkutsk Oblast (2 localities); and seven in Western Siberia - Krasnoyarsk Krai (4), Tomsk Oblast (1), Kemerovo Oblast (2), Altai Krai (8), Altai Republic (1), Novosibirsk Oblast (2), and Omsk Oblast (1). In the European part of the Russian Federation, the monitoring covered five regions: three in Central Russia - Perm Krai (5 localities), Udmurtia (1), Kirov Oblast (2), and two in Southern Russia - Orenburg Oblast (1), and Stavropol Krai (1).
Grapholita inopinata was caught in pheromone traps in 8 out of 13 administrative regions of Russia included in the study. In 7 of these regions, the moth was recorded for the first time. Five of these regions are in Western Siberia – Kemerovo (2021), Tomsk (2021), Novosibirsk Oblasts (2021), Altai Republic (2022), Altai Krai (2022), Omsk Oblast (2022), one in Eastern Siberia - Irkutsk Oblast (2024), and one is in the European part of Russia - Perm Krai (2023). This extends the geographical range of the moth westwards. The authors also report that two generations of the pest occur in the southern part of Krasnoyarsk Krai whereas G. inopinata was so far considered as univoltine.
Sources
Akulov EN, Kovalenko MG, Lovtsova JA, Musolin DL, Kirichenko NI (2025) Western range limit, population density, and flight dynamics of the fruit pest Grapholita inopinata (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in Russia. Life 15(4), 521. https://doi.org/10.3390/life15040521