Incidence and host range of the melon fruit fly Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Central Tanzania

Abstract

The incidence and host range of the melon fruit fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae, was studied in the Morogoro Region of Central Tanzania between October 2004 and October 2006. Occurrence was limited to low to medium altitude locations. Populations reached a peak in the dry season, between July and September. Host plants belonged mostly to the Cucurbitaceae family, with non-cucurbit hosts being infested occasionally and at low infestation rate. Highly preferred cucurbit hosts were cucumber (Cucumis sativus), melon (Cucumis melo) and watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), while Momordica cf trifoliata was the most important wild host. Bactrocera cucurbitae appeared to dominate most indigenous cucurbit infesters, with the exception of Dacus ciliatus which was still dominant in some cucurbitaceous spp.

Keywords:

• fruit flies
• ecology
• Cucurbitaceae
• Africa

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to F.J. Senkondo, Hendry Mziray, Resta Maganga and Y. Mgoba (Sokoine University of Agriculture) for their assistance in the field, and to R.S. Copeland and Q. Luke for their aid in identification of cucurbit hosts. We greatly acknowledge the constructive comments given by two anonymous referees on an earlier draft of this article. This study was financially supported by the Belgian Development Co-operation through the Framework programme with the Royal Museum for Central Africa (Project F13) and the International Foundation of Science (Project C3956).