Biology of Bactrocera (Zeugodacus) tau (Walker) (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Abstract

The biology of the fruit fly Bactrocera tau, an important horticultural pest, was studied under laboratory conditions at 25°C and 60–70% relative humidity on Cucurbita maxima. The duration of mating averaged 408.03 ± 235.93 min. After mating, the female fly had a preoviposition period of 11.7 ± 4.49 days. The oviposition rate was 9.9 ± 8.50 eggs and fecundity was 464.6 ± 67.98 eggs/female. Eggs were elliptical, smooth and shiny white, turning darker as hatching approached, and measured 1.30 ± 0.07 mm × 0.24 ± 0.04 mm. The chorion has polygonal microsculpturing and is species‐specific with polygonal walls. The egg period lasts for 1.3 ± 0.41 days. The duration of the larval period is 1.2 ± 0.42, 1.7 ± 0.48 and 4.0 ± 0.94 days for first, second and third instars, respectively. Pupation occurs in the sand or soil and pupal periods are 7.0 ± 0.47 days. The life cycle from egg to adult was completed in 14.2 ± 1.69 days; the longevity of mated females and males was 130.33 ± 14.18 and 104.66 ± 31.21 days, respectively. At least two to three generations were observed from June 2008 to June 2009.

Biology and Biometrics of Oriental Fruit Fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae) on Custard Apple, Annona squamosa L.

“…The present observations are in corroborated with the earlier findings of Singh et al, (2010), who reported 3.8±0.074mm x 0.55±0.10mm and 8.02±1.02 mm x 1.55± 0.17 mm for fresh and full grown maggots respectively.…”

“…The pre-oviposition period was observed between 10 to 14 days, with a mean duration of 12.1±1.28 days. These findings are in agreement with the findings of Singh et al, (2010).…”

“…Morphometric observations revealed that the eggs measured about 1.36±0.12 mm in length and 0.25±0.13 mm in width. These findings are in close agreement with the results of Singh et al, (2010), who observed that the mean length and width of egg was 1.30±0.07 and 0.24±0.04mm, respectively (Table 1) and even the mean incubation period was 1.50±0.48 days, which is in close agreement with the observations made by Singh et al, (2010), who observed an incubation period of 1.3±0.41 days (Table 2).…”

“…The length and breadth (wing expanse) of the male adult varied from 4.91 to 7.23mm (mean ± S.D =6.20±0.73) and 10.10 to 12.65 mm (mean ± S.D.=11.50±1.01) respectively. The longevity of male was 52.4±8.74 days and allthese findings are similar to that of Singh et al, (2010) in case of Bactrocera tau on Cucurbita maxima and Lasker (2013) in case of B. cucurbitae on pumpkin. …”

“…David and Ramani (2011) reported 325 species, of which 243 families and 79 genera are from India alone. B. dorsalisis reported to cause 100.0, 87.0, 78.0 and 61.0% fruit damage in rainy season on guava, mango, peach and pear respectively (Sharma et al, 2011), whereas Singh (2010) reported significant losses in Kinnow due to fruit flies. The damage on crops caused by oriental fruit flies resulted from oviposition in fruit, feeding by the maggots and decaying of tissue by invading secondary microorganisms that leads to fruit drop.…”