Drosophilid flies (Diptera: Drosophilidae) of Georgia (Sakartvelo) with new records for the country

Four genera and 12 species of drosophilid flies have been recorded during our survey in five regions of Georgia in 2021. Two genera, Amiota (Loew, 1862) and Gitona Meigen, 1830, and four species ( Amiota subtusradiata Duda 1934, Drosophila busckii Coquillett 1901, D . kuntzei Duda, 1924, and Gitona distigma Meigen, 1830) represent new records for the fauna of Georgia (Sakartvelo).

Drosophila suzukii, one of the major fruit pest species world-wide, was first recorded in Georgia in 2017 (Japoshvili et al. 2018). In 2022, a countrywide monitoring project was initiated by the USAID Georgian Agriculture program and the National Food Agency of Georgia aiming to in-vestigate the distribution of this invasive pest species, also known as the spotted wing drosophila (SWD). Along with the representatives of the target taxon, other drosophilid flies were also recorded. Monitoring was carried out in major agricultural regions of Georgia in orchards of susceptible crops to D. suzukii such as blueberries, strawberries, cherries, and grapes (Lee et al. 2012;Walsh et al. 2011). In the present work, we report the results of our findings with the updated data about the drosophilid diversity in Georgia and the new records for the country.

Study area
Study sites were distributed in the Adjara/Guria, Samegrelo, Imereti, Kartli, and Kakheti regions in order to cover the key host crop production areas for the SWD across Georgia. In each of these five regions, four monitoring sites of 2 hectares each were established with an in-between minimal distance of 5 km (Fig. 1, Table 1).

Trap placement and monitoring
In the monitoring sampling, PHEROCON® SWD traps with PHEROCON® SWD PEEL-PAK™ Broad Spectrum Lures (Trécé, Inc., Adair, OK, USA) were used from May to November 2021. Five traps were placed at each site, with four traps placed at the edges and one in the middle of the field as prescribed by the producer, with a distance between the traps of about 130 m. Traps were placed in the shaded areas of the host plant canopy and were checked for the presence of drosophilid flies once a week. Captured flies were extracted from traps using a fine paintbrush and stored in 95% alcohol for further treatment. Lures in each trap were changed once a month as prescribed by the producer company.

Laboratory procedures
Sampled flies were preliminary examined in the laboratory using a stereomicroscope UNITRON Z850 for identification. After identification, the voucher specimens were preserved in 70% ethanol and deposited at the laboratory of the Agricultural University of Georgia.
The Drosophilid flies were subsequently identified by the last author using a stereomicroscope OLYMPUS SZ61 and the identification keys by Papp (1973) and Bächli et al. (2004). Specimens were also compared with the Diptera collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum for species confirmation.

Results
A total of 12 species of drosophilid flies were sampled during the monitoring, belonging to four genera (Supplementary file 1: Table S1). An asterisk (*) in the species list indicates new records for the country. The number of the collected specimens is not indicated.
Samples were collected primarily thanks to the student helpers, whose names are indicated under each species as  • Distribution: Cosmopolitan. According to the Georgian biodiversity database (GBD), the species is known from Georgia. However, the occurrence was not checked by experts and the previous records can be considered doubtful (

Conclusion
Based on our investigation and literature data, 15 species currently represent the drosophilid fauna of Georgia. Our findings confirmed the presence of five species previously recorded in Georgia but could not recover the other three taxa, namely Leucophenga maculata (Dufour, 1839), Lordiphosa hexasticha (Papp, 1971), and Scaptomyza graminum (Fallén, 1823), recorded by Oboňa et al. (2019). Moreover, four species were added to the regional drosophilid fauna, i.e., Amiota subtusradiata, Drosophila busckii, D. kuntzei and G. distigma, and the invasive pest species D. suzukii was found in all major agricultural regions of Georgia.