Fruit flies represent a significant threat to cucurbit production. They inflict about 30% to 100% losses on cucurbit crops. The aim of this study was to characterize the community of fruit flies infesting cucurbit crops in Morogoro, Tanzania. We investigate the diversity and abundance of fruit fly species infesting cucumber, watermelon, and squash across the two agroecological zones of the Morogoro using three attractants (Cue Lure, Zingerone and Biolure). The attractants were deployed for 16 weeks from June to November 2020.In total, 12017 fruit fly specimens were collected. Of these, 77.23% were collected from the mountainous and the remaining 22.77% from the plateau zone. All specimens belonged to the generaDacus, ZeugodacusandBactrocera.Zeugodacus cucurbitaewas the most abundant species (77.6%) while the remaining species constituted 22.4%. The mountainous zone harboured a significantly higher number of fruit fly species than the plateau zone. The abundance of fruit flies was significantly influenced by altitudes and seasons. The study characterized the community of fruit flies in Morogoro and confirms the prevalence of Z.cucurbitae, D. bivittatus and D. punctatifronsas prominent species in this region. Therefore, management programs should focus on containing these species regardless of the agroecological zones and seasons.

Fruit flies (Diptera, Tephritidae) represent a major threat to cucurbit production in Tanzania. They cause huge economic losses on cucurbit crops. Information on the infestation and yield loss caused by fruit flies on cucurbit crops is vital in designing a sound fruit fly management program. We identified the fruit fly species attacking cucurbit crops (Cucurbitales: Cucurbitaceae): cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus [Thunb.] Matsum. & Nakai) and squash (Cucurbita moschata D.) in the Morogoro region and quantified their incidence and infestation per crop species. A weekly sampling of ten fruits per crop was repeated twice per plot for each zone for five consecutive weeks between March and October 2020. The number of fruit flies emerging from the collected fruits was quantified and infestation per crop species was determined. We observed significant differences in infestation between cucurbit species, across zones and seasons. Squash showed the highest infestation of Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillet) in both zones followed by watermelon. Watermelon was highly infested by Dacus vertebratus (Bigot) in the plateau zone followed by squash. Squash showed the highest infestation of Dacus ciliatus Loew in the plateau zone followed by watermelon. Cucumber had the lowest infestation for all fruit fly species.