Population Densities of Melon Fruit Fly Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) in Vegetables Agro-Ecosystem in District Hyderabad,Sindh, Pakistan

Study on population magnitude of the Melon Fruit Fly Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coq.) was undertaken during 2015 on cucurbit crops in district Hyderabad. The studies were carried out at two discrete localities, Jeay Shah and Dehli Farm, in three different crops i.e., bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) and ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula) using cue-lure baited traps. The male lure baited traps were arrayed at three meter height and replenished on fortnightly basis in experimentation sites. Results revealed that significantly highest (124.86) population was recorded on L. acutangula and lowest (104.725) on L. siceraria at both experimental sites throughout the course of experiment. Moreover, significantly higher population densities of B. cucurbitae were observed during the 4th week of May on L. acutangula (339.4±22.59) and lowest (11.0±0.45) during1st week of January. Similarly, in case of M. charantia and L. siceraria statistically higher densities (334.6±22.76, 333.2±20.13) of B. cucurbitae was observed on 4th week of May and lowest (9.4±1.60, 7.6±1.72) on the 1st week of January. The trapping of B. cucurbitae were positively correlated with the temperature while negatively correlated with relative humidity.