RED BUD BORER RESSELIELLA OCULIPERDA (RÜBSAAMEN, 1893) (DIPTERA, CECIDOMYIIDAE) – A NEW VECTOR OF FIRE BLIGHT OF FRUIT CROPS IN KAZAKHSTAN

Abstract

Red bud borer Resseliella oculiperda, a pest of many fruit crops, is a new vector of the causative agent of bacterial fruit blight Erwinia amylovora in Kazakhstan. It was confirmed using PCR analysis of its larvae and puparia collected from apple trees of the Aport variety in two peasant farms at different times. The spread of infection with the help of R. oculiperda can go in several ways: 1) with the development of gall midge larvae in the branches of infected trees, the imago, after emerging from the puparium, can carry the spores of the pathogen on itself to other plants; 2) when females lay eggs in tree branches (females lay eggs in fresh mechanical damage (wounds, cracks, and scratches) of the bark on the trunk, shoots and branches, buds and eyes); 3) when gall midge larvae make passages during feeding, the infection can penetrate the resulting lesions with wind, rain, and other insects penetrating the passages of larvae; 4) introduction of bacteria by gall midge larvae from contaminated soil. In Kazakhstan, methods for controlling the number of budding gall midges have not been developed, and at present the actual distribution of the pest in the territory of the republic is unknown. Since R. oculiperda is a vector of such a dangerous quarantine disease as the bacterial blight of fruit, further research in this direction is necessary to clarify the missing information.