ARI REVIEW FOR 2016-2017

ENTOMOLOGY Fruit fly pest prevention and management in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean In parts of the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean, the Mediterranean fruit fly ( Ceratitis capitata ) causes major damage to fruit production. Medfly reduces fruit production and increases insecticide use, and therefore exerts a direct impact on the production cost of agricultural comodities. Moreover, the recent introduction of exotic fruit fly species, such as the peach fruit fly, Bacrocera zonata , and the species of the oriental fruit fly complex Bactrocera dorsalis , in North Africa and the Middle East poses a high thread to fruits and vegetable production of the Balkan and Eastern Mediterranean. To cope with the high risk of infestation from fruit flies, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) initiated a project with main objectives the knowledge sharing among the countries of the region and the development and support selected fruit fly suppression programmes. ARI is one of the institutions from 12 countries that participate in the project. ( N.A. Seraphides ) 47 Plant Protection