Field evaluation of roosting plants with food bait spray in managing melon fly, Zeugodacus cucurbitae in cucumber, Cucumis sativus

Abstract

Melon fly,Zeugodacuscucurbitae (Diptera: Tephritidae) (Coquillett) is the major pest of cucumber, Cucumissativus. We investigated the attractiveness of roosting plants with food bait spray to manage melon fly in cucumber under open field conditions. Cucumber was planted over two successive Kharif seasons together with maize (Zea mays), castor bean (Ricinus communis), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and Napier grass (Hybrid Co-3) as border plants. Border plants were sprayed weekly with an azadirachtin based food bait. The study revealed that castor bean was the most attractive roosting plant to melon fly followed by maize, sorghum and Napier grass. The adult melon flies preferred to roost on the lower sides of the maize, sorghum and Napier grass leaves and on the stems of castor bean. There were significant differences in the per cent fruit infestation of cucumber in all roosting host treatments except Napier grass compared to the control, with the lowest fruit infestation of 11.75 per cent recorded in castor bean treatment. The highest cucumber yield 17.90 t/ha and the highest number of cucumber harvests 13.75 per season were observed in the castor bean treatment.Establishment of preferred roosting hosts as crop borders may help to improve the efficiency of bait application thereby suppressing the melon fly population.