Rhagoletis cingulata occurs in Switzerland, but not R. indifferens
Based on several light trapping records, it was reported that Rhagoletis indifferens (Diptera: Tephritidae – EPPO A1 list) was present in Switzerland. This fruit fly was first caught in Ticino in 1983 and was then considered established in the south of Switzerland with low population densities (see EPPO RS 516/15 of 1991, 525/15 of 1992 and RS 94/110). However more recent studies (Merz ; Niehuis, 2001) showed that the insect concerned was not R. indifferens but the closely related species R. cingulata (EPPO A2 List) which has also been recorded in other European countries (Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Slovenia). It is now considered that all earlier records of R. indifferens in Switzerland were misidentifications with R. cingulata.
The situation of Rhagoletis indifferens in Switzerland can be described as follows: Absent, earlier records were misidentifications of R. cingulata.
The situation of Rhagoletis cingulata in Switzerland can be described as follows: Present, first trapped in 1983 in Ticino, established in the South.
Sources
Lampe I, Burghause F, Krauthausen HJ (2005) Introduction and distribution of the American Eastern cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cingulata, in the Rhine Valley, Germany. Proceedings of the BCPC Symposium on ‘Introduction and spread of invasive species’, Berlin, 200506-09/11, No. 81, 135-140.
Merz B, Niehuis M (2001) [Remarkable records of fruit flies (Diptera, Tephritidae) from Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany)]. Dipteron 4(1), 57-64.
NPPO of Switzerland (2010-08).