Evaluation of host susceptibility, preference and offspring performance of Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett) (Diptera: Tephritidae) on different hosts

Abstract

The melon fruit fly, Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett) is a quarantine insect pest worldwide and affects the vegetable quality through its direct feeding and indirectly by passing way for secondary pathogens. This study investigated the host susceptibility, preference and offspring performance of Z. cucurbitae under the laboratory conditions. Different vegetable hosts i.e., brinjal (Solanum melongena L.), bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.), zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.), bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria [Molina] Standley) and cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) were tested under no choice and free choice tests. Results showed that C. sativus and C. pepo have highest number of visits/host and oviposition puncture/host. C. sativus showed highest pupal recovery and pupal weight in both only choice and free choice test. While, highest percentage of emergence and female off springs were observed in C. pepo under only choice and free choice scenarios. Furthermore, maximum deformities in progeny were observed in case of L. siceraria under both test case scenarios. The current study provides exploratory support that fruit flies respond differently to host species that co-exists in field under choice and no choice test. Further, hosts of advantage to fruit flies are adopted more. The host and choice preference of fruit flies have the influence on the pest management strategies for the vegetable crops.

Evaluation of the Attractant Effect of Solanum muricatum (Solanales: Solanaceae) on Gravid Female Adults of Zeugodacus tau (Diptera: Tephritidae) and Screening of Attractant Volatiles

“…Differences in the species and cultivars of Solanaceae crops had a significant impact on the aspect of induced oviposition and trapping of gravid Z. tau females. This is consistent with previous research on several polyphagous fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae), such as B. zonata [51,52], Z. cucurbitae [52,53], A. obliqua [54], Neoceratitis cyanescens [55], B. oleae [56], B. tryoni [57,58], B. dorsalis [23,40,59,60], and B. latifrons [61,62]; these studies found that the ability to attract fruit flies differed between species and cultivars of host plants. Polyphagous fruit flies with higher olfactory plasticity are able to recognize and use more hosts and choose their preferred host plants more than [63].…”

“…Polyphagous fruit flies with higher olfactory plasticity are able to recognize and use more hosts and choose their preferred host plants more than [63]. The previous studies indicated that hosts with greater attraction were advantageous to the offspring performance of fruit flies [51,53,[56][57][58]60]. The previous studies verified a positive correlation between the attractiveness of Cucurbitaceae, Myrtaceae, and Rutaceae crops to Z. tau and the offspring performance (larval survival, pupation rate, and emergence rate) of Z. tau [64].…”

Ovipositional Behaviour of Two Fruit Flies, Ceratitis capitata and Anastrepha fraterculus, in Seven Fruit Hosts in the Laboratory

“…A significant influence of host plants was observed on the different developmental parameters of Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett) [37]. Our results suggested that the fruit host may change ovipositional behaviours, either increasing or decreasing the sizes of the egg masses.…”

Knockdown of the ecdysone receptor disrupts development and causes mortality in the melon fly, Zeugodacus cucurbitae

“…Among them, the melon fly Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett; Diptera: Tephritidae) is polyphagous and one of the most destructive species, severely affecting the production of cucurbits (De Meyer et al, 2015; Mwatawala et al, 2009). This pest has a high dispersal potential and reproduction rate (Farooq et al, 2020; Mwatawala et al, 2009). Females lay their eggs under the skin of the fruit, allowing the hatchlings to feed inside and causing the fruit to rot (Stonehouse et al, 2007).…”