Biology and management of cucurbit fruit fly Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) on sweet gourd
Date
2007-11
Authors
Mukherjee, Sagar
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
HAJEE MOHAMMAD DANESH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY, DINAJPUR.
Abstract
The study was conducted to observe the biology and management practices
of Bactrocera cucurbitae on sweet gourd. The results of the biology showed that
the mean pre-oviposition, oviposition, incubation, larval and pupal period of B.
cucurbitae were 11.25, 9.75, 0.81, 12.25 and 7.75 days, respectively. The mean
adult longevity of male and female flies were 18.25 and 23.50 days, respectively.
The female fly laid on an average 52.75 eggs. The average length of eggs, larvae,
pupae, adult male and female were 1.48, 10.13, 6.00, 7.50 and 8.75 mm,
respectively. Whereas, the mean breadth of eggs, larvae, pupae, adult male and
female were 0.48, 3.38, 2.18, 3.25 and 5.50 mm, respectively. The mean length
and breadth of adult male was 7.5 and 3.25 mm and adult female was 8.75 and 5.5
mm, respectively. The evaluation of different management practices revealed that
the bagging of fruits in scaffold showed the lowest level of infestation. It was also
lowest at different reproductive stages of plants. Significantly the lowest weight
reduction per fruit and the highest edible portion of an infested fruit were
obtained in the bagging of fruits in scaffold. The highest amount of yield was
attained in the bagging treatment. Considering all these results, the study indicated
that bagging of fruits in scaffold might be considered as a superior method in
controlling fruit fly on sweet gourd.
Description
The soils and agro-climates of Bangladesh are highly conductive for
growing numerous kinds of vegetable. Among them cucurbits are being a major
group (Nasiruddin et al., 2004). The annual production of vegetables in
Bangladesh is 2.5 million tons including potato and sweet potato (Anon., 1993).
The daily requirement of vegetables for a full-grown person is 285g (Ramphall
and Gill, 1990). But the per capita consumption of vegetables is only 50g per day
in Bangladesh, which is the lowest amount among the countries of South and
South East Asia (Rekhi, 1997). As a result, chronic malnutrition is commonly
seen in Bangladesh. In our couates the vegetables are not equally produced
quantitatively throughout the year. The vegetable production in the country is very
low in summer. In this season the major vegetables grown are cucurbits.
Therefore, during lag period cucurbitaceous vegetables play an important role to
supplement this shortage (Rashid, 1993). In 2004-2005 cropping year 138
thousand metric tons sweet gourd were produced in Bangladesh (BB S, 2006).
Keywords
Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) on sweet gourd, Rate of infestation and yield loss, Origin and distribution