Scientific Opinion on the pest categorisation of Rhagoletis cingulata (Loew)

The Panel on Plant Health undertook a pest categorisation of Rhagoletis cingulata for the European Union (EU). This pest is a member of a complex of five North American species, of which Rhagoletis indifferens is the only other crop pest. The two pest species have morphologically distinct adults, but similar larvae and both attack cherries. R. cingulata is currently present in eight Member States but its presence in eastern North America from Mexico to Canada implies that all the risk assessment area where its hosts occur is suitable for establishment. Adults have a limited capacity for flight, and spread is mainly by larvae present in traded fruit and pupae in soil. R. cingulata attacks all cultivated and wild cherries but is particularly damaging to late-maturing varieties, especially sour cherries. Even small infestations can cause losses because the quality requirements for marketing of cherry fruits indicate a threshold below 4 % for “worm-eaten” fruit in accordance with Commission Regulation 214/2004. The limited control measures available are similar to those for the native cherry fruit fly, R. cerasi, and are primarily based on insecticide sprays timed to kill adults, along with some cultural methods (e.g. netting and trapping). R. cingulata is listed in Annex IAI of Council Directive 2000/29/EC and its hosts are regulated in Annex IIIA with prohibitions for introduction in the Member States, in Annex IVAI with special requirements on soil and dwarfed plants that need to be considered and in Annex V indicating that host plants intended for planting are subject to plant health inspection before entry or movement within the EU.