Identification, Symptoms, Nature of Damage and Management of Mango Fruit Fly

Background  India is the world’s second largest producer of fruits and vegetables.  Mango is known as king of fruits in India and has largest acrage and production in the world but its export is mainly hindered by quarantine concerns.  Fruit flies infesting mango fruits in India are of quarantine concerns to Japan as well as Australia, and USA

Fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) Fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) are among the world’s most serious pests of horticultural crops due to their direct economic impact as females oviposit inside the fruits and consequently young larvae feed on the pulp thus render them unmarketable. The fruit flies comprise over 4,000 species distributed globally throughout all the temperate, subtropical and tropical climatic zones. The genus Bactrocera includes about 500 species. In India, eight species of genus Bactrocera are identified among quarantine pests related to mango. Fruit fly laying eggs Larvae after hatching feeding on pulp Bactrocera dorsalis B. zonata B. cucurbitae B. Correcta B. diversa B. tau

Important Fruit flies In India, Oriental fruit fly B. dorsalis Hendel is the most destructive fruit fly of mango, followed by Peach fruit fly B. zonata Saunders and Guava fruit fly B. correcta Bezzi The flies attack fruits at different stages of maturity but damage is more obvious at harvest maturity stages. B. Dorsalis B. zonata B. correcta

Identification Adult – Reddish brown with transparent wing Larva – creamish yellow apodous maggots. Pupa- ranges in color from dull red or brownish yellow

Symptoms The female insert eggs in small clusters inside the mesocarp of the fruits Ovipunctures and oozing of fluid After hatching larvae feeds on the pulp which appears normal from outside.

Nature of Damage Brownish rotten patches on fruits. Fruits finally drops down. The larvae pupate in soil (5-10 cm) and flies start emerging from April onwards with maximum population during May to July which coincides with fruit maturity.

Pupa Eggs Larvae 6-9 day Adults 2-3 months Egg laying Starts After 2-3 weeks Life Cycle of Fruit Fly Eggs 1-2 day Pupa 8-10 day Larvae Pupate in soil

Management Preventive Cultural practices – –Collect fallen infested rotten fruits and also remove fruits with ovipunctures and oozing clear sap from the trees if visible. – –Distroy these collected fruits by dumping in a pit (40-60 cm deep) and cover with soil to eliminate all sources of possible breeding sites. – –Harvest crops early when mature green. As this stage of fruit maturity, crops are not susceptible to fruit fly attack. – –Pick overripe fruits as these are good breeding sites for fruit flies. – –Plough the topsoil (5-10 cm deep) to expose the pupae to predators, parasites, and direct sunlight. – –Practice crop and field sanitation.

Management Physical Method Curative: Pheromone traps Methyl eugenol sex lure traps capture male flies. Set up methyl eugenol trap in the 10/h. – –Traps with pheromone + baits are used to monitor and to lessen the population density of fruit flies infesting the fruits in the Fruit fly plastic bottle trap (April-June) – –Materials Required and Procedure: – –Plastic bottle, 4-6 mm iron rod, string and pheromone – –Heat the iron rod. Make a hole on the base, big enough for the string or wire to pass through. Make 3-4 on side of bottle as entry holes for flies. – –Insert a string or wire at the hole. Place the bait inside the bottle. – –Hung the trap in a shady part of the tree just above the lower leaves. – –Replace the bait as per recommendation of manufacturer.

Cont….. You can also prepare bait with methyl eugenol 1% solution mixed with malathion 0.1%. – –Take 10 ml of this mixture per trap and keep them in 10 different places in one hectare The adult fruit flies can also be controlled by bait sprays – –Bait spray - combining any one of the insecticides as given below and protein hydrolysate or molasses or jaggery 10 g/l, – –fenthion 100EC 1ml/l, – –malathion 50EC 2 ml/l, – –dimethoate 30 EC 1 ml/l, – –carbaryl 50 WP 4 g/l. Spray at 2 weeks interval before ripening of fruits. Racking up of soil below the tree and drench with chlorpyriphos ml/l to kill the pupa.

Summary Mango fruit fly is world’s most serious pest of horticultural crops and in India. There are eight species of genus Bactrocera which are considered as quarantine pest of mango. The adults are flies with transparent wings while larvae are apodous. Larvae feed upon the pulp of fruit. The emergence of the fruit fly starts from April onwards and maximum population is reached in May-July.

Cont… Cultural control includes early harvesting of mature fruit and remove fallen infested fruit, ploughing the top soil to expose pupae. Methyl eugenol lure trap is effective to capture male fruit fly. Bait spray combination Fenthion /malathion/ dimethoate/carbaryl with protein hyrolysate or molasses/jaggery at interval of 2 weeks is recommended.