''Bactrocera cucurbitae'', the melon fly, is a fruit fly of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Tephritidae. It is a serious

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

pest, particularly in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Identification

Adult fly

The adult melon fly is 6 to 8 mm in length. Distinctive characteristics include its

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

pattern, its long third antennal segment, the reddish yellow dorsum of the

thorax The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...

with light yellow markings, and the yellowish head with black spots.

Egg

The

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

is elliptical, about 2 mm long, and pure white. It is almost flat on the

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

surface, and more convex on the dorsal. Eggs are often somewhat longitudinally curved.

Larva

The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

is a cylindrical-maggot shape, elongated, with the anterior end narrowed a somewhat curved ventrally. It has anterior mouth hooks, ventral

fusiform Fusiform (from Latin ''fusus'' ‘spindle’) means having a spindle (textiles), spindle-like shape that is wide in the middle and tapers at both ends. It is similar to the lemon (geometry), lemon-shape, but often implies a focal broadening of a ...

areas and a flattened

caudal Caudal may refer to: Anatomy * Caudal (anatomical term) (from Latin ''cauda''; tail), used to describe how close something is to the trailing end of an organism * Caudal artery, the portion of the dorsal aorta of a vertebrate that passes into th ...

end. Last instar larvae range from 7.5 to 11.8 mm in length.

Pupa

The

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

rium ranges in color from dull red or brownish yellow to dull white, and is about 5 to 6 mm in length.

Life history

Development period from egg to adult ranges from 12 to 28 days. The female may lay as many as 1,000 eggs. Eggs are generally laid in young

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

2-4mm deep, but are also laid in the succulent stems of

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...

plants. The eggs are deposited in cavities created by the female using its sharp

ovipositor The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typica ...

. Pupation usually occurs in the

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

. There may be as many as 8 to 10 generations a year.

Behaviour

Melon flies are most often found on low, leafy, succulent

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanic ...

near cultivated areas. In hot weather they rest on the undersides of leaves and in shady areas. They are strong fliers and usually fly in the mornings and afternoons. They feed on the juices of decaying fruit, nectar, bird feces, and plant sap. Mature melon fly males are attracted to several attractants e.g. anisyl acetone, cue-lure, raspberry ketone and zingerone. They are pollinators/visitors of some orchids, especially ''

Bulbophyllum ''Bulbophyllum'' is a genus of mostly Epiphyte, epiphytic and Lithophyte, lithophytic orchids in the Family (biology), family Orchidaceae. It is the largest genus in the orchid family and one of the List of the largest genera of flowering plants, ...

'' (Orchidaceae) species, that release floral fragrance containing either raspberry ketone or zingerone as floral attractant and reward. Furthermore, male sex pheromonal components strongly deter predation by lizards.

Distribution

The melon fly is native to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and is distributed throughout most parts of the country. It can be found throughout most of southern Asia, several countries in Africa, some island groups in the Pacific. In the United States, it was the first tephritid fruit fly species established in

. It was introduced there from

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

around 1895, and by 1897, when it was first observed, it had already become a serious pest. Not yet established in the continental

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, it is often intercepted at ports. Occasionally, an infestation is established, but is then eradicated.

Host plants

Melon flies use at least 125 host plants. They are major pests of

bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

bittermelon ''Momordica charantia'' (commonly called bitter melon, cerassee, goya, bitter apple, bitter gourd, bitter squash, balsam-pear, karela, karavila and many more names listed below) is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, w ...

winter melon ''Benincasa hispida'', the wax gourd, also called ash gourd, white gourd, winter gourd, winter melon, tallow gourd, ash pumpkin, Chinese preserving melon, is a vine grown for its very large fruit, eaten as a vegetable when mature. It is nat ...

cucumber The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.eggplant Eggplant (American English, US, Canadian English, CA, Australian English, AU, Philippine English, PH), aubergine (British English, UK, Hiberno English, IE, New Zealand English, NZ), brinjal (Indian English, IN, Singapore English, SG, Malays ...

green bean Green beans are young, unripe fruits of various cultivars of the common bean ('' Phaseolus vulgaris''), although immature or young pods of the runner bean ('' Phaseolus coccineus''), yardlong bean ( ''Vigna unguiculata'' subsp. ''sesquipedali ...

s, hyotan,

luffa ''Luffa'' is a genus of tropical and subtropical vines in the pumpkin, squash and gourd family (Cucurbitaceae). In everyday non-technical usage, the luffa, also spelled loofah or less frequently loofa, usually refers to the fruits of the speci ...

melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to ''Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the p ...

peppers Pepper(s) may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plants ** Black pepper ** Long pepper ** Kampot pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ...

pumpkin A pumpkin is a cultivar, cultivated winter squash in the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly applied to round, orange-colored squash varieties, but does not possess a scientific definition. It may be used in reference to many dif ...

squashes Squash most often refers to: * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (plant), the fruit of vines of the genus ''Cucurbita'' Squash may also refer to: Sports * Squash (professional wrestling), an extr ...

, togan,

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

es,

watermelon The watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, that has a large, edible fruit. It is a Glossary of botanical terms#scandent, scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, and is plant breeding ...

, and

zucchini Zucchini (; : ''zucchini'' or ''zucchinis''), courgette () or ''Cucurbita pepo'' is a summer squash, a Vine, vining herbaceous plant whose fruit are harvested when their immature seeds and Fruit anatomy#Epicarp, epicarp (rind) are still soft a ...

Damage

In the

Indomalayan realm The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia. Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Ind ...

, the melon fly is considered the most destructive pest of melons and other related crops. In Hawaii, even prior to fruit set, serious damage to squash and pumpkin crops occur as larvae feed on the crop as it grows. The melon fly can attack

flowers Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...

tissue, and fruit.

Management

Non-chemical control

Mechanical

There are two common mechanical methods of control. One is to use a protective covering to wrap the fruit while it develops. The other is to use baited traps. The former is less cost effective, but is the best way to control them without affecting the environment.

Cultural

The most effective cultural management technique to destroy the infested fruit that is not marketable, and then to dispose of the crop residues as soon as harvest is complete.

Biological control

Between 1947 and 1952 in Hawaii, natural enemies of fruit flies were introduced. During that time, thirty-two species and varieties of

parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...

were released. They lay their eggs in the eggs of the

maggots A maggot is the larva of a fly (order Diptera); it is applied in particular to the larvae of Brachycera flies, such as houseflies, cheese flies, hoverflies, and blowflies, rather than larvae of the Nematocera, such as mosquitoes and cran ...

and then emerge once in the pupal stage. When the

braconid The Braconidae are a family of parasitoid wasps. After the closely related Ichneumonidae, braconids make up the second-largest family in the order Hymenoptera, with about 17,000 recognized species and many thousands more undescribed. One analysis ...

parasitoids In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...

'' Fopius arisanus'' or '' Pysttalia fletcheri'' were used, and attacked both melon fly eggs and larvae at the same time, suppression of development was as much as 56%. Additionally,

sterile insect technique The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a method of biological pest control, biological insect control, whereby overwhelming numbers of infertility, sterile insects are released into the wild. The released insects are preferably male, as this is mo ...

has been used in biological control efforts, with success in eradicating the fly from Japan.

Chemical control

Toxicant A toxicant is any toxic substance, whether artificial or naturally occurring. By contrast, a toxin is a poison produced naturally by an organism (e.g. plant, animal, insect, bacterium). The different types of toxicants can be found in the air, so ...

s in baits applied both to refugia of the fruit flies and sprays applied to crops have been used.

Proteinaceous Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respon ...

liquid attractants in

insecticide Insecticides are pesticides used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. The major use of insecticides is in agriculture, but they are also used in home and garden settings, i ...

sprays is an effective method of controlling melon fly populations. This bait insecticide is sprayed on broad leaf plants that serve as refugia for melon flies. These baits encourage the adults to feed on the spray residue.

References

* Agarwal, M. L., D. D. Sharma and O. Rahman. 1987. Melon Fruit-Fly and Its Control. Indian Horticulture. 32(3): 10-11. * Bess, H. A., R. van den Bosch and F. H. Haramoto. 1961. Fruit Fly Parasites and Their Activities in Hawaii. Proc. Hawaiian Entomol. Soc. 27(3): 367-378. * Heppner, J. B. 1989. Larvae of Fruit Flies. V. Dacus cucurbitae (Melon Fly) (Diptera: Tephritidae). Fla. Dept. Agric. & Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry. Entomology Circular No. 315. 2 pages. * Hill, D. S. 1983. Dacus cucurbitae Coq. pp. 391. In Agricultural Insect Pests of the Tropics and Their Control, 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. 746 pages. * Lall, B. S. 1975. Studies on the Biology and Control of Fruit Fly, Dacus cucurbitae COQ. Pesticides. 9(10): 31-36. * Liquido, N. J., R. T. Cunningham, and H. M. Couey. 1989. Infestation Rate of Papaya by Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Relation to the Degree of Fruit Ripeness. J. Econ. Ent. 82(10): 213-219. * Lockwood, S. 1957. Melon Fly, Dacus cucurbitae. Loose-Leaf Manual of Insect Control. California Department of Agriculture. * Marsden, D. A. 1979. Insect Pest Series, No. 9. Melon Fly, Oriental Fruit Fly, Mediterranean Fruit Fly. University of Hawaii, Cooperative Extension Service, College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resources. * Nishida, T and H. A. Bess. 1957. Studies on the Ecology and Control of the Melon Fly Dacus (Strumeta) cucurbitae Coquillett (Diptera: Tephritidae). Hawaii Agric. Exp. Station Tech. Bull. No. 34. pages 2–44. * Nishida, T. and F. Haramoto. 1953. Immunity of Dacus cucurbitae to Attack by Certain Parasites of Dacus dorsalis. J. Econ. Ent. 46(1): 61-64. * Vargas, R. I. and J. R. Carey. 1990. Comparative Survival and Demographic Statistics for Wild Oriental fruit Fly, Mediterranean Fruit Fly, and Melon Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) on Papaya. J. Econ. Ent. 83(4): 1344-1349. * Anonymous. 1959. Insects not known to occur in the United States. Cooperative Economic Insect Report 9 (19): 343-368. Melon fly (Dacus cucurbitae (Coq.)),: 367-368. * Back EA, Pemberton CE. 1917. The melon fly in Hawaii. U.S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin 491: 1-64. * Bautista R, Harris E, Vargas R, Jang E. (2004). Parasitization of melon fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) by Fopius arisanus and Psyttalia fletcheri (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and the effect of fruit substrates on host preference by parasitoids. ARS-Research. http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/Publications.htm?seq_no_115=155470 (26 July 2004). * Berg GH. 1979. Pictorial key to fruit fly larvae of the family Tephritidae. San Salvador: Organ. Internac. Reg. Sanidad. Agropec. 36 p. * Chu HF. 1949. A classification of some larvae and puparia of the Tephritidae (Diptera). Cont. Inst. Zool., Natl. Acad. Peiping (Beijing) 5: 93-138 * Green CT. 1929. Characters of the larvae and pupae of certain fruit flies. Journal of Agricultural Research (Washington) 38: 489-504. * Hardy DE. 1949. Studies in Hawaiian fruit flies (Diptera, Tephritidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 51: 181-205. * Heppner JB. 1988. Larvae of fruit flies IV. Dacus dorsalis (Oriental fruit fly) (Diptera: Tephritidae). Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry Entomology Circular 303: 1-2. * Foote RK, Blanc FL. 1963. The fruit flies or Tephritidae of California. Bulletin of the California Insect Survey 7: 1-117. * Phillips VT. 1946. The biology and identification of trypetid larvae (Diptera: Trypetidae). Memoirs of the American Entomological Society 12: 1-161. * Pruitt JH. 1953. Identification of fruit fly larvae frequently intercepted at ports of entry of the United States. University of Florida (Gainesville), MS thesis. 69 p. * USDA, Survey and Detection Operations, Plant Pest Control Division, Agriculture Research Service. Anonymous. 1963. The melon fly. Pamphlet 581. 4 p. * White IM, Elson-Harris MM. 1994. Fruit Flies of Economic Significance: Their Identification and Bionomics. CAB International. Oxon, UK. 601 p.

External links

*
University of Hawaii at Manoa study

Melon fly images

Irradiation study
{{Authority control Bactrocera Insect vectors of plant pathogens Diptera of Asia Insects described in 1849 Agricultural pest insects