Sofya Borisovna Rosenfeld, Ph.D., Researcher, Center for Bird Ringing of Russia, IEE RAS, took part in counting geese and brants in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The survey takes place within the international project “Life for the safe flight” of the European Union for the preservation of the red-breasted goose. On the part of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the project partner is the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK). For two weeks in the Kostanay region, we have been developing a popular science film with the working title "Autumn migration of geese on Lake Taldykol". The film will describe the migration of geese and brants, including more detail about the red-breasted goose, as well as the measures taken in the Republic of Kazakhstan to protect and minimize the hunting pressure on rare and hunted species of geese and brants.

The aerial stage of the "Soul of the Caspian" expedition with the purposes of research and preservation of the Caspian seal was completed on October 31 in the Astrakhan region. These are the first aerial observations of the smallest seal on earth after it was entered into the Red Book of Russia. Aviation monitoring was carried out by the Clean Seas Ecological Foundation and scientists from the IEE RAS. At the helm of the La-8 amphibious aircraft was a Hero of Russia, cosmonaut, test pilot Valery Tokarev. Takeoff and landing, and between them - an average of five hours of flight over the Caspian in search of animals. The expeditionary group of the Soul of the Caspian project spent 6 days in Astrakhan, completed 4 air routes with a total length of about 2,600 thousand kilometers, exploring an area of more than 12 thousand square kilometers. On three routes, the observers detected approximately 400 animals. Some of the seals were in the water, and most of them were on Maly Zhemchuzhny Island and in the shallows next to it. Accurate data will be obtained after computer processing of photographic materials from the monitoring complex, which is specially designed for aerial observations of marine mammals. In addition to seals, scientists detected and recorded many birds, schools of fish and, regrettably, abandoned fishing nets and numerous boats in the Dagestan part of the Caspian Sea during their flights. The research aircraft also flew over the oil platform of the Lukoil company. The area around it was clear of industrial influence. After completing the aerial part of the expedition, the scientific and film crews move to the Astrakhan State Reserve, to the Damchik cordon. Together with the staff of the reserve, they will have to cross the Volga delta to the Caspian Sea in high-speed boats to reach the seal haul-outs. There it is necessary to take biological samples from the seals and attach satellite transmitters to their backs to observe the movements of animals. The video about the first stage of the expedition can be found through this link.   Expedition dates in 2021: Stage I - aviation monitoring October 25 - October 30 Stage II - tagging October 31 - November 10, 2021.   The realisation of this project was made possible thanks to: PJSC "Lukoil" FSUE "Rosmorport" Non-state nature conservation center "NABU-Caucasus" Severtsov IEE RAS FSBI "Astrakhan State Reserve"   With the support of: Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia Rosprirodnadzor   Information Partners: State TV and Radio Company "Lotos" Caspian Seal Rescue Agency www.kaspika.org   Материалы по теме: МК: "В Астраханской области будут отслеживать перемещения тюленей по Каспийскому морю" Fishnews: "Каспийскому тюленю разработают план спасения"

A group of scientists from the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University, the Koltsov Institute of Developmental Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, with the support of the Russian Science Foundation and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, studied how global climate change affects marine invertebrates. The appearance of marine ecosystems in recent years has undergone significant changes under the influence of global climate change and human activity. Scientists are currently studying how these factors affect biodiversity. Samples from the Barents, White and Japan Seas were taken and studied for this purpose. The research results are published in the scientific journal Invertebrate Zoology. The leading engineer of the Laboratory of Morphology and Ecology of Marine Invertebrates, Tatyana Igorevna Antokhina, took part in the research on behalf of IEE RAS. The article presented an integrative analysis of the complex of species Eubranchus odhneri - Eubranchus sanjuanensis. Individuals similar morphologically to E. sanjuanensis were collected in the Sea of Japan. However, preliminary molecular analysis has shown their close relationship to the Arctic species E. odhneri. New data were obtained on the sequences of mitochondrial (COI and 16S rRNA) and nuclear (histone H3 and 18S rRNA) markers for the reconstruction of molecular phylogenetic relationships using Bayesian analysis and Maximum Likelihood Estimation, analyzes of molecular separation of ASAP, bPTP and GMYC species and the likely time of the divergence of the proposed species. The study also includes morphological and ecological features: external morphology, coloration, morphology of the jaws, radula and reproductive system, as well as the fine structure of the Cnidosacia and determination of food preferences. The results show that individuals from the Sea of Japan are a new species, Eubranchus malakhovi sp.n. It was named after the head of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology of the Biological Faculty of Moscow State University, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Vasilyevich Malakhov. The new species differs both in morphological and molecular data from the Arctic species E. odhneri and E. sanjuanensis inhabiting the northeastern Pacific Ocean. The new species is phylogenetically close to the E.odhneri species, with extremely low differences in mitochondrial DNA, and, according to scientists, the time of divergence of these species is ~ 1.5 million years ago.   Related materials: Babr24: "Scientist from Russia discovered an unknown mollusk, and named it after a colleague"

On October 26, 2021 at 12.30 a press conference will be held at the B.M. Kustodiev Astrakhan International Airport, dedicated to the launch of the ecological project for the study and conservation of the Caspian seal "Soul of the Caspian Sea". The project was developed by the Clean Seas Foundation in cooperation with leading experts on marine mammals from the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of Russian Academy of Sciences with the support of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation. The first expedition begins this autumn. On the La-8 amphibious aircraft, the scientific and film crew will fly along the Russian coast of the Caspian Sea along preset routes. At the helm is the main pilot of all air expeditions of the Clean Seas Foundation - Hero of Russia Valery Tokarev, cosmonaut, 1st class test pilot. At the second stage, the expedition team, together with the inspectors of the Astrakhan State Nature Reserve, will go out to sea in speedboats to the island of Maliy Zhemchuzhny to install satellite transmitters on animals and take bio-samples. All these are just the first steps of the Soul of the Caspian project. There is still a lot of work ahead to study the current state of the Caspian seal population and develop a strategy for its conservation. The Caspian seal (Pusa Caspica) is one of the smallest seals on the planet. It is not only the only mammalian inhabitant of the salt lake called the Caspian Sea, but also an indicator of its ecosystem. Over the past 100 years, the number of this mammal has decreased by 90%. In 2008, the Caspian seal was included in the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in the status of “endangered”. And in 2020 it made its way onto the pages of the Red Book of Russia. Ecologists and scientists of all the Caspian states have long sounded the alarm about the decline in the number of Caspian seals and the mass deaths recorded in the past few years on the territory of Dagestan. Our ultimate goal is for the Caspian seal species to no longer be endangered and prosper in the vastness of the Caspian. Expedition objectives: - collection / updating of scientific data on the distribution, key habitats and population relationships of seals; - formation of a map of the Caspian seal haul-outs; - identification of factors influencing the degradation of the population, including anthropogenic pollution in the habitats of seals; - exchange of data with studies carried out in other Caspian states. The press conference will be attended by: 1. Babushkin Igor Yurievich, Governor of the Astrakhan region 2. Kobylkin Dmitry Nikolaevich, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Ecology, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection (on-line) 3. Makanova Irina Yuryevna, Director of the Department of State Policy and Regulation in the Sphere of Development of Protected Areas of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation (on-line) 4. Martynov Igor Alexandrovich, Chairman of the Duma of the Astrakhan region 5. Bogoslovsky Vasily Viktorovich, General Director of the Clean Seas Foundation 6. Lyashko Nikolay Nikolaevich, General Director of OOO LUKOIL-Nizhnevolzhskneft 7. Kim Alexander Vladimirovich, acting Director of the FSUE "Rosmorport" Astrakhan branch 8. Kovalev Vitaly Vladimirovich, Founder and Director for Science of the Non-State Environmental Center "NABU-Caucasus" 9. Glazov Dmitry Mikhailovich, Leading Engineer of the A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS, executive director of the Regional Public Organization "Council for Marine Mammals" 10. Solovieva Maria Andreevna, candidate of biological sciences, researcher at the A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS 11. Tokarev Valery Ivanovich, test pilot, cosmonaut, Hero of Russia, chief pilot of the expedition 12. Tsymlyansky Nikolay Anatolyevich, Director of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Astrakhan State Reserve" 13. Anna Subbotina, Deputy General Director of the Clean Seas Foundation 14. Representative of Rosprirodnadzor Accreditation for journalists: +7 952-592-87-19 Julia   Related materials: TV and Radio Astrakhan: "An eco-project for the study and conservation of the Caspian seal starts in Astrakhan"

The classical theory of gender conflict says that in animals with sexual reproduction and traditional sex roles, males compete for females, and in females, competition for partners is weak, since males are always in abundance. This inference follows from the fact that one male can fertilize many females. Accordingly, males are in abundance in the population, and their reproductive success (the number of offspring) increases with the number of partners. For females, this should not be the case: the number of partners does not increase their reproductive success, so they are not chasing the number of partners, but their quality. However, in recent years, both theory and practice show that not only males, but also females can compete for partners, especially in situations where there are many females and few males. Daphnia alternate parthenogenesis with sexual reproduction. During the period of sexual reproduction, the sex ratio in natural populations can be strongly shifted towards females. Accordingly, questions arise about how many females a male can fertilize and whether females experience a shortage of males, which can lead to reproductive failure and competition of females for males. Scientists from the Koltsov IDB (RAS), IEE RAS, and CEFE (France) tested these hypotheses in a series of experiments with Daphnia magna. In the article Sex ratio effects on reproductive success of male and female Daphnia, recently published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, it is shown that one male Daphnia can actually fertilize a large number of females, about 50. However, with the sex ratio strongly shifted towards females quite common in nature, this is not enough - many of the females remain unfertilized. Contrary to the classical theory of gender conflict, males are in short supply. It is interesting that females also suffer when there are many males - their mortality increases. Perhaps the reason for this is the pursuit of numerous males and / or the negative impact of increased density of population. Thus, Daphnia magna females need a certain number of males for optimal reproductive success. It is likely that a shortage of males causes the females to compete, which creates conditions for sexual selection. Link to article https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jeb.13942

In the scientific literature, as well as in the media, there are more and more reports of the appearance in various regions of the globe of animals and plants that were not previously characteristic of them. Many organisms have been accidentally transported thousands of kilometers by humans, for example, transported by sea vessels. In a number of cases, they were deliberately introduced for economic purposes, but then they settled uncontrollably and began to harm nature and humans (rabbits in Australia, hogweed in European Russia, etc.). We can say that at the present time, thanks to rash human activities, there is a general mixing of the faunas and flora of the globe. Most of the efforts of scientists are focused on the study of large invaders, as well as species the introduction of which had devastating consequences for ecosystems. Many people know the history of the appearance in the European part of Russia of the Colorado potato beetle, elodea and rotan fish. Materials on this topic can be found in the "Russian Journal of Biological Invasions", which has become a very famous publication on this topic. The most dangerous species for nature are listed in the book “The Most Dangerous Invasive Species of Russia (TOP-100) (ed. By Yu.Yu. Dgebuadze, V.G. Petrosyan, L.A. Khlyap). At the same time, cases of successful introduction of small animals are much less studied, although among them there are many species that pose a threat to ecosystems. Among the water fleas (cladocerans), several species have been documented to radically alter the water bodies in which they entered. But for most species, cases of invasions have not been documented, which largely reflects their insufficient knowledge. Genetic works devoted to different groups of species of water fleas immediately revealed the presence of some species of these crustaceans in new habitats, and their appearance there is highly likely due to accidental introduction as a result of human activity. Crustaceans lay resting eggs, which can attach to various objects, as well as be carried in tanks with ships' ballast water and remain in the water when fish migrate from one reservoir to another for the purpose of breeding them. Employees of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS and I. D. Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters RAS studied by genetic methods numerous populations of the species Daphnia curvirostris (= "Daphnia snub-nosed") from European Russia, primarily from the Volga basin. An extremely interesting population was discovered in the only pond located on Samarskaya Luka - a large bend of the Volga between the cities of Togliatti and Samara. The studied females for the mitochondrial COI gene split into two well-separated groups, one of which belonged to the typical Daphnia curvirostris, and the second to Daphnia korovchinskyi, which lives exclusively in the Far East of the Russian Federation. For nuclear genes, the first group was homozygous (that is, both DNA strands were characteristic of typical D. curvirostris), and the second were heterozygous (they carried one strand from the first species, and the second from D. korovchinskyi). The second group consists of hybrids of two types. Moreover, “pure” D. korovchinskyi was not found, but its traces remained “at the crime scene”, which indicate that there was a drift, but the species did not manage to take root in the new conditions. The presence of genes from a Far Eastern species in the Volga population can only be explained by the fact that some time ago it was introduced into the Volga basin through human activity, formed hybrids with a local species, but did not survive. It is unclear how it got into the Volga basin, but this path is clearly associated with human activity. For example, through the Khabarovsk Territory, where D. korovchinskyi lives, there is a route of mass transportation of used cars from Japan and Korea. Resting eggs of daphnia could accidentally stick to their wheels and get to the Volga. The research results are published in the journal "Water". “Such discoveries became possible only after the external structure and gene sequences of many species of the genus Daphnia were studied. Obviously, studies of other genera of cladocerans and other groups of freshwater animals will lead to the identification of new cases of introduction of unusual animals in many regions of the Russian Federation”, says the head of these works, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Corresponding Member of RAS A.A. Kotov. The work was carried out within the framework of the RFBR project 20-34-70020. Signature. Daphnia curvirostris from Samarskaya Luka. Article Karabanov D.P., Garibian P.G., Bekker E.I., Sabitova R.Z., Kotov A.A., 2021. Genetic Signature of a Past Anthropogenic Transportation of a Far-Eastern Endemic Cladoceran (Crustacea: Daphniidae) to the Volga Basin. Water 13 (18): 2589. https: //doi.org/10.3390/w13182589 https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/18/2589

A brief report on the expedition to the Ciscaucasia to study the phylogeography of Palaearctic species of hamsters within the framework of the RFBR grant 20-04-00102a (headed by Doctor of Biological Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences A.V.Surov). It is rather widely known that the Caucasus is a refugium for many animal species, including three species of hamsters: the common hamster (Cricetus cricetus), the Raddey hamster (Mesocricetus raddei), and the Brandt hamster (M. brandti), which are the objects of research by the IEE RAS staff. Previously, the DNA of animals from many localities has already been analyzed, but significant territories of the Caucasus have remained unexplored. The main goal of the 2021 expedition was to collect material on hamsters from new regions of Dagestan, Ossetia, Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria. The ciscaucasian hamster (M. raddei nigriculus) was of particular interest as its taxonomic status requires revision. Visit to the Voroninsky State Nature Reserve. Director of the reserve, Ph.D. Burkanova Olga Anatolyevna The reserve is situated at a distance from anthropogenic influence -reaching it requires a trek of 5-6 thousand kilometers through the notorious settlements: Buinaksk, Gudermes, Grozny, Mozdok, Argun gorge ... But the trip promised to be not only productive, but also cognitive both in historical and world outlook terms. Transport support was provided by a wonderful person and driver - Eugene by the name of Karlik (it is interesting that this surname comes as a diminutive form of Karl, a dynastic royal name, and not from one of Eugene's relatives being small, which begets the Russian nickname “karlik” - “dwarf”). Companionship on a long trip is important. In addition to the driver, the crew of the "ship" consisted of three employees of the Institute of Ecology and Evolution, a recently defended grant participant Magomed Chunkov, and his supervisor, Dr. Sc. K.Z. Omarov. In addition, across Chechnya the expedition was accompanied by an employee of the H.I. Ibragimov Institute of RAS (Grozny) Daud Arsanukaev, who is entering the postgraduate course at IEE RAS this year. Study of potential habitats of the common hamster in the Donskoy Nature Park (Volgograd Region) The expedition took place in difficult conditions - a terrible heat of 36-40 degrees. And even the air conditioner in the car did not always help to cope with it. The scientists brought with them a small mascot - a forest dormouse, which was caught in hazel groves on the Don. They decided to bring her to Moscow. She turned out to be an experienced traveler and made a great drive home, and now she is already preparing for hibernation. Dagestan mountain roads The tasks set for the expedition as a whole were completed. The participants drove 6 thousand kilometers in Kalmykia, Dagestan, Chechnya, S. Ossetia, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Stavropol Territory, caught animals, took tissue samples from them for DNA analysis, described characteristic biotopes, talked with local residents and specialists. Unfortunately, apparently due to the long drought, breeding this year was worse than usual, and few hamsters were caught. Nevertheless, with the active help of colleagues, it was possible to collect material from new points. It was also found that the object of the study - common hamster - inhabited two more Caucasian capitals - Grozny and Nazran. Despite all attempts, it has not yet been possible to catch the ciscaucasian hamster, but the search will continue. We hope that the next expeditions will give positive results. In the meantime, the received materials have to be processed. Party preparing to catch Brandt's hamster near the village of Urma (Levashinsky district, Dagestan)   Forcing the animal out of the habitat through temporarily flooding it is a harsh but effective method. The animal is hunted wet, but alive and well, and after 15-20 minutes. after taking the necessary measurements can be released back.   Interviewing the local population. The most reliable method for obtaining information about the presence of hamsters. Members of the expedition with the staff of the H.I. Ibragimov KNII RAS at the facade of the building of the agricultural station of the Chechen Research Institute of Agriculture (Grozny). The result of a successful hunt. A common hamster was caught right on the experimental tomato field. The scientists viewing the collections of the Zoological Museum of the KNII RAS The night watch. An unsucceffful attempt to catch a hamster at night in the city park of Nalchik. Our team against the background of the "waterfall" and "snowy peaks of the Caucasus" (Nazran)   A.V. Surov N.Yu. Feoktistova P.L. Bogomolov M.M-R. Chunkov K.Z. Lobster E.I. Karlik

The theory says that inbreeding, despite its negative effects on offspring, should be more common in nature than is observed. In particular, closely related crosses are facilitated by a limited choice of partners and strict time constraints on the implementation of the life cycle: there is not enough time to choose a suitable, unrelated partner. Scientists from IEE RAS and Penza State University investigated the system of marital relations and ways to avoid inbreeding in the natural population of the yellow ground squirrel, Spermophillus fulvus. In yellow ground squirrels, like other hibernating mammals, a short period of terrestrial activity sets a strict time frame for the implementation of the entire sequence of the annual cycle - they live under time pressure conditions. In particular, a female yellow gopher within 3-3.5 months of ground activity must have time to meet the father of future children, carry them out and feed them, and also gain fat mass before the next hibernation. If we add to this that they have estrus once a year, it lasts several hours, and females live for three years, it becomes clear that there is no time left to choose a suitable unrelated partner and a high frequency of inbred crosses can be expected. Indeed, from the article by the authors of Female polyandry dilutes inbreeding in a solitary fast-living hibernator, recently published in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, it follows that female yellow gophers mate with all possible partners, regardless of the degree of relationship with them, including with relatives of the first order: fathers, brothers and sons. Excessive discrimination in choosing a partner threatens them with complete reproductive failure. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. However, even in this difficult situation, female yellow ground squirrels find a way to reduce the risks of negative consequences of inbreeding: they mate with many males, thereby “diluting” the possible negative effects of incest. As a result, the likelihood that all offspring will be equally poorly adapted is reduced. Photo by: Nikita Vasiliev. The photo shows the cubs of a yellow ground squirrel.

From 12 to 15 October 2021 the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted the II International Working Meeting dedicated to the rehabilitation and reintroduction of predatory mammals. The first such meeting was held in 2015 and aroused great interest among colleagues. The current Working Meeting was dedicated to the memory of the outstanding Russian zoologist Valentin Sergeevich Pazhetnov (1936-2021), an excellent specialist who developed a system for returning orphaned bears to nature. Valentin Sergeevich created a whole dynasty, continuing the work of his life at the biological station "Clean Forest" - the return to nature of bear cubs that lost their mothers. Some of the representatives of this dynasty were able to attend the conference in person, while their other colleagues continued to work with animals at the biological station. Reintroduction is one of the most relevant and effective techniques for restoring populations of rare animal species and their numbers. Predatory animals are the head and key components of food chains; their presence in ecosystems stabilizes the structure of the ecosystem, contributing to the restoration of the diversity of numerous interconnections of living organisms. However, the return of a predator to nature is a huge multicomponent work, consisting of more than a few stages. Such work requires the involvement of a large number of different specialists, and each of its stages is often impossible to implement without the success of the previous stage. The creation of special conditions in order to grow from birth or grow up to its natural state, or restore a predator with wild behavior is a difficult task that requires taking into account the peculiarities of the animal's habitat, the formation of its behavior, its adaptability and plasticity, and, accordingly, special methods of work. For predatory mammals, in addition to the ability to hunt prey, it is necessary to be able to find said prey in the wild. The ability to interact with their congeners is also necessary for them to continue the race. A separate issue is the conflict between predators and humans, since many areas on our planet are becoming more and more anthropogenic. The more intellectually developed the representatives of one or another species of carnivorous mammals, the more complex and plastic their behavior. How to preserve this, develop it fully, without harming the animal? How to give it the opportunity to return to its natural environment, and not pose a threat to humans? These topical issues were discussed among professionals for four days. Six sections were carried out on the functions and problems of species restoration projects, including through reintroduction; the importance of genetics issues in the selection of founding animals of the restored population and the genetic state of vulnerable populations requiring restoration; the questions of the patterns of the formation of animal behavior in ontogenesis and their consideration when preparing predators for release; issues of monitoring released animals and analyzing the success of their adaptation after release, which consists in resettlement, the ability to obtain food, to reproduce; the range of threats to the released animals was also discussed - competing species, pathogens, etc. In total, the working meeting was attended by approximately 100 zoologists from different countries and organizations, who are professionally close to the topic of restoration of natural populations of carnivores. In addition to colleagues from Russia, the conference was attended by specialists from eleven countries: Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, India, Korea, Malaysia, Qatar, Great Britain, USA, China, Georgia. The conference had a hybrid format (in-person presence of speakers and online). The working meeting was held in two languages: Russian and English, all reports were provided with simultaneous translation (professional translators largely determined the success of the event), and the monograph with published materials contains both English and Russian versions of all theses. All the work, strenuous and difficult, to prepare and coordinate the international Working Meeting fell on the shoulders of young scientists, employees of the laboratory of behavior and behavioral ecology of mammals Anna Yachmennikova, who was assisted by her student Maria Danilova, and Anastasia Antonevich. The Working Meeting would have been impossible without financial support from the Moscow Zoo, ANO Wildlife Society (PJSC Rosneft), ANO Amur Tiger, Clean Seas Foundation and WWF-Russia, for which the Organizing Committee of the Working Meeting would like to sincerely thank these organizations. Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Working Meeting, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.V. Rozhnov

Marina Yakovlevna Orlova-Benkovskaya, senior researcher at IEE RAS, and Andrei Olegovich Benkovsky, senior researcher at IEE RAS, revealed a new pest in the Russian Caucasus a year ago - the Asian fruit fly Drosophila suzukii. It is an invasive species native to East Asia. First, it was transported through fruit to Europe, and in 2014 - to Crimea. Spotted wing drosophila can cause great damage to fruit farms. Drosophila females use their ovipositor to lay eggs under the skin of the fruit. More than 60 types of berries and fruits are under threat, as well as wineries - these flies also damage grapes. The scientific community has been detecting the Drosophila suzukii in Russia since the beginning of the 21st century. “The Asian fruit fly Drosophila suzukii, a quarantine pest of fruit growing, was previously recorded in two regions of Russia: in the Primorsky Territory in 2001 and in the Crimea in 2014–2015. These findings are included in the database of the European and Mediterranean Organization for Plant Quarantine (EPPO),” says Marina Yakovlevna Orlova-Benkovskaya. In 2017 and 2020, IEE RAS scientists placed bait traps in different districts of the city of Sochi and collected 49 specimens of this Drosophila. They were identified by the typical female ovipositor, male spotted wings, and other features. The research results were published in the scientific journal "Insects". After information about the discovery of the fruit fly in Sochi appeared in the media, the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision (Rosselkhoznadzor) published an official explanation that the fruit fly was allegedly absent in Russia at all. The finds in Primorye and Crimea are not mentioned in this Rosselkhoznadzor report, and the find in Sochi is questioned, since the identification of the specimens was not verified by official EPPO experts. The staff of IEE RAS contacted the experts of the EPPO (European-Mediterranean Organization for Plant Protection) and sent them 10 specimens collected in Sochi for verification. Experts have verified the data. Last week, the organization's bulletin published an official international confirmation of the discovery of the spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) in the Caucasus.