Survey of Melon Fruit Fly, Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett) Infestation on Cucurbits in Dharwad and Haveri Districts of Karnataka, India

Abstract

The roving survey was undertaken in and around Dharwad and Haveri districts, covering major cucurbits growing areas, during August and October, 2019 to assess the present status of melon fruit fly, Zeugodacus cucurbitae infestation on different cucurbits in farmer fields.  It revealed that higher mean per cent infestation was recorded on bitter gourd (37.59 %) crop followed by ridge gourd (32.67 %), cucumber (28.84 %), and bottle gourd (20.48 %) during August in Dharwad district as compared to Haveri district. Further, in the month of October, the same trend was followed among the following cucurbits. Where, bitter gourd recorded the highest per cent infestation of at 35.30 per cent followed by ridge gourd (30.05 %), cucumber (27.02 %) and bottle gourd (18.65 %) in Dharwad as compared to Haveri district. Thus, results showed that higher melon fruit fly infestation was noticed in August over October in Dharwad as compared to Haveri district.