BALUCHISTAN MELON FLY CARPOMYA PARDALINA (BIGOT, 1891) (DIPTERA: TEPHRITIDAE) – A NEW DANGEROUS PEST FOR MELON GROWING IN DONBAS

Since the beginning of the XXI century, the harmfulness of the Baluchistan melon fly Carpomya pardalina (Big, 1891) (Diptera, Tephritidae) has manifested itself on a vast territory starting from the countries of Central Asia to the south of Russia and Ukraine. In the summer of 2021, an outbreak of mass reproduction of the Baluchistan melon fly was noted for the first time in Donbass, which led to the loss of 60–80 % of the harvest of individual melon cultivars. The most affected was the middle-early cultivar Ethiopia, fruits formation of which coincides with the release of imago C. pardalina. No significant damage was noted in other representatives of the pumpkin family (Cucurbitaceae) belonging to the forage plants of the Baluchistan melon fly. To date, C. pardalina is one of the main factors of melon crop loss in the Azov region, which requires a detailed study of the species’ biology in the region and the development of control methods.