Özet:

The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is a significant pest of many commercially valuable fruit species. It is on the quarantine list of some countries and can lead to significant economic losses. Medfly, more common in tropical and subtropical regions, has also been noticed in the Marmara Region. This study was executed to ascertain the medfly's transmission pathways to the orchards in the Marmara Region (Bursa, Kocaeli, and Yalova Provinces), whether it will survive in the winter or not, and the necessary precautions to be taken. Transmission pathways were determined by monitoring adults captured on the delta-type traps with parapheromone (trimedlure) placed into the fruit-vegetable wholesale market area and orchards close to intercity roads weekly, examining infested fruits and obtaining adults from infested fruits in the laboratory. In relation to overwintering studies, soil samples were taken; fruits containing egg and larvae were placed in a cage with wire mesh in orchards; the pupae obtained in laboratory conditions were placed in pots under a wire cage; some host fruit trees were enclosed in cages with wire screen to cover the crown ridge. In this study, the first adults in the traps were caught in the wholesale vegetable and fruit places in May and June, and in the orchards in July, August, and September in the Marmara Region from 2015 to 2018. Intensive having captured in orchards appeared in the third week of October, and the last catching occurred in the second week of December. As a result of the study, it was concluded that the pest is transported to the Marmara Region by the larvae or egg-contaminated fruits brought from the Mediterranean and Aegean Regions for commercial purposes. In addition, regarding the medfly’s overwintering ability, no evidence was revealed that it could last the winter as a pupa in the soil or a larva in fruit under local climatic conditions. The results indicate that if legal and cultural measures are implemented, such as national quarantine, hygienic fruit and vegetable markets, and destroyed non-commercially valued fruits dumped on the ground and left on the branch, it will be possible to prevent the transmission and settlement of the medfly into the region.