Description of a melon fly and methods of dealing with it

The melon fly is a dangerous pest of melons and gourds. In Latin it sounds like bactrocera cucurbitae coquillett. Larvae live and feed in pumpkin fruits, adults drink the juices of the same plants. They damage melon, watermelon, cucumbers, pumpkin, wild cucumbers. For a year, under favorable conditions, 3 generations of melon flies appear, puparia in the pupal stage winter.

Appearance Description

Flies of medium size up to 7 mm, yellow color. Wingspan reaches 5 mm.The head is colored more intensely. The whole body is covered with small thick hairs. A pair of transparent wings with four transverse yellow stripes. There are small antennae on the head, eyes are well expressed. Photos of the melon fly can be seen below.

The larva is born extremely small - about 1 mm. As it grows, it grows to 11 mm. The body is a cylindrical dirty yellow color, expands to the rear end, smooth. At the last stage of development, pupation occurs.

On a note!

Pupa dark yellow, closer to brown. Size - 8 mm. In this state, the melon fly winters. With the development of larvae at the beginning of summer, imago appears after a few days. The ability to fertilize develops during the day.

Melon fly

Life cycle

Spring years coincide with the formation of fruits in spring. By the time the soil temperature warms up to +20 degrees Celsius. The summer period stretches in time to 30 days. For the entire warm season is replaced by about 3 generations. Melon flies parasitize from the beginning of June to October.

The lifespan of adult females is 2 months, the males die after the end of the summer.Eggs of the female lay almost every day in the emerging fruits, one in each. Avoids large fruits where the skin becomes dense. Buries eggs under the skin by 2 mm.

On a note!

On throughout life the female lays 100 eggs.

The female eats the juices of the same cultures. Droplets protrude to the surface, they are quietly pulled by a long proboscis. Males of fruits do not damage on their own, but use the holes that the females have made.

The development of the larvae A melon fly in an egg lasts from 2 days to a week, depending on the climatic conditions. After exiting the shell, the worm is embedded deep into the fetus. It feeds on seeds, juice, pulp. Sheds 3 times. The whole development cycle in the summer lasts 8-13 days, in the autumn time is delayed up to 18 days. After the third molt they leave the fruit, burrow into the ground. On clay soils sneaks in at 13 cm.

The development of the pupa lasts about 20 days. Autumn puparia winter. In early summer, when the soil warms up to +20 degrees Celsius, imagoes appear. A few days begins years.

The development cycle of a melon fly

Harm caused

The main pests are the melon fly larvae.They damage the fetus from the inside, making it unfit for consumption, slow down the formation, reduce the quality and quantity of the crop. Adult flies cause damage by piercing the skin. Pathogenic microorganisms, bacteria, enter the lesion sites, the process of decay begins

Signs of damage are dark bumps on the surface of the fetus, holes in the places where the larvae emerge. When cutting, cracking on the pulp, numerous moves are visible. The affected fetus is rotting from the inside outwardly and may look healthy.

On a note!

The danger of melon fly is not dangerous for humans. If the eggs or small larvae are accidentally swallowed, they die in the digestive tract under the influence of enzymes, gastric juice. Imago does not tolerate dangerous diseases. All methods of dealing with a melon fly are related to crop protection.

Effective methods of struggle

Insect is common in countries where they actively grow melons. In Russia lives in the Rostov region, Volgograd, Astrakhan, Northern Caucasus. They are actively fighting the parasite in India, Africa, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Iran. To prevent contamination of other territories, the products undergo a thorough sanitary inspection and preliminary processing.

Agrotechnical methods of struggle include deep plowing, the observance of crop rotation, the cultivation of early ripening varieties, hybrids. Chemical methods of destruction include the treatment of seeds with pesticides before planting, spraying chemicals after the appearance of the first leaves. When using insecticides, it is prohibited to spray the crops during the flowering phase, less than 20 days before harvesting.

Chemicals to combat melon fly

In the South Caucasus, the ancient method is used to fight the melon fly. After the fruit reaches the size of a chicken egg, it is buried in the soil, where it remains until ripening.

Flies in melon can spoil from 70% of the crop per season to 100%. With the threat of mass destruction of melon crops, on the island of Roth used a unique method of pest control - released into the nature of previously sterilized males. Further processing of the melon from the melon fly was not required because the eggs did not form or the larvae did not hatch from them.

Interesting!

The African melon fly lives in areas with a hot climate - Africa, America, Asia, Oceania. Motley flies about 8 mm in size.It damages about 125 types of crops, among them melon, watermelon, pumpkin, cucumbers, papaya, mango, citrus. To extract the larva from the fruit, immerse it for 4 hours in water, the maggot floats to the surface. For catching imago use traps.

Effective drugs

Biological, chemical preparations are used to fight the melon fly. They allow get rid of flies as soon as possible.

Biological preparations do not pose a danger to the environment; it is allowed to eat the fruit after thorough washing under running water. The result is observed within 7-14 days after spraying the crops. Effective remedies Fitoverm, Spark Bio, Mikosan, Aktofit, Biospore.

Chemicals act almost immediately. Maximum efficiency is observed in the first 4 hours after treatment, retain toxic properties for about a month. Absorbed by the culture tissues, kill the melon fly, the larvae during feeding. It is forbidden to use poison in the flowering period, later than 20 days before harvest. The concentrate immediately before use is diluted with cold water in the ratio specified in the instructions. Effective remedies - Fufanon, Kemifos, Novaktion, Karate Zion, Agita. Culture should be processed in May, a few weeks before flowering.