3. Fruit fly: Bactrocera dorsalis (Tephritidae: Diptera)

Distribution and Status : India, Pakistan, South-East Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Formosa, Philippines, Australia, China, Hawaii Islands, China and Taiwan.

Host range : Mango, guava, peach, apricot, cherry, pear, ber, citrus, banana, papaya, avocado, passion fruit, coffee, melons, jack fruit, strawberry.

Damage symptoms   

The maggots destroy and convert the pulp into bad smelling, discoloured semi liquid mass unfit for human consumption. Infestation results in fruit drop and liquid oozes out from the fruit upon pressing.

Bionomics : The adult fly is brown or drak brown with hyaline wings and yellow legs. Adult lays up to 200 eggs in a month in clusters of 2-15 just beneath the skin of the ripening fruits. The egg period is 22-23 days. The maggot feeds on pulp and become full grown in about 7 days. It pupates 3-7 inches below the soil.

Management

• Row interspaces may be ploughed to expose and kill the soil borne puparia.
• The infested and fallen fruits should be carefully disposed of.
• Apply a bait-spray of malathion 50 EC @ 2 ml/ L with molasses or jaggery (10 g/L) before ripening.
• Male annihilation technique: Set up fly trap using methyl eugenol. Prepare methyl eugenol 1 ml/L of water + 1 ml of malathion solution. Take 10 ml of this mixture per trap and keep them at 25 different places in one ha between 6 and 8 am. Collect and destroy the adult flies.