Enhancing knowledge of non-target tortricid fauna via pheromone monitoring of the quarantine fruit pest Grapholita molesta (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in Russia

Abstract

The oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta (Busck, 1916), is an East Asian fruit pest that has spread to both hemispheres causing significant economic losses. In some countries, including Russia, it is considered a quarantine species which occurence and spread are monitored using pheromone traps. However, these traps also attract or accidentally capture other tortricid moths. Here we present the first comprehensive overview of tortricids detectable in traps baited with the synthetic sex pheromone of G. molesta. During 15 years (2010–2019 & 2021–2025) we conducted field studies in 21 Russian administrative regions to identify non-target tortricids during G. molesta monitoring. Additionally, we performed a literature search for Eurasia to document tortricid species caught in traps with the synthetic pheromone of G. molesta. Based on our observations and literature data, altogether 117 tortricid species have been recorded in G. molesta pheromone traps in Eurasia. Our Russian records accounted 57 species (over 45,000 individuals), of which only 27 have been previously reported in the literature, and 30 species (i.e., 53%) are recorded for the first time from G. molesta pheromone traps. Three species – Grapholita funebrana and Cnephasia stephensiana (cought in 13 regions each) and Grapholita inopinata (nine regions), previously known from Russia, were the most common species present in the traps across the country in our study. Nineteen species represent new regional records in Russia, including Pammene luculentana (new to the European part of Russia), Pammene luedersiana (new to the Asian part of Russia and the Asian continent), Enarmonia minuscula – new to Siberia, and 15 species new to administrative regions of the country. This article highlights how pheromone monitoring of G. molesta can document non-target species – their abundance and occurrence frequency – and uncover species previously unknown in Russian regions.