Better concentration of cue-lure and sticky trap combination for monitoring and mass trapping of melon fly, Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett)

Fruit fly species (family: Tephritidae) are a major pest of cucurbits, leading to a significant reduction in the crop yields. Among all species infesting cucurbits, Zeugodacus cucurbitae is the major pest. Both monitoring and mass trapping of Z. cucurbitae heavily rely on ‘male annihilation technique, using cue-lure (CL) male attractant-based traps embedded with killing agents/pesticides. To evaluate the effectiveness of CL concentrations in combination with different traps against Z. cucurbitae, the following field study was conducted in a sponge gourd field during the 2023 zaid season. Among all treatments, the highest mean weekly trap catches of Z. cucurbitae (fly captures per trap per week, FTW) were recorded with 25 % CL combined with blue sticky traps (10.16 ± 0.99). Seasonal incidence studies revealed that the population exhibited fluctuations, peaking at 9.80 ± 1.29 FTW during the 17th Standard Meteorological Week (SMW), followed by a decline with occasional secondary peaks during the 20th and 27th SMW. Correlation analysis between the population and weather parameters indicated significant negative correlations with minimum temperature (r = -0.666, p = 0.004) and wind speed (r = -0.604, p = 0.013) at 5 % level of significance. These factors accounted for 44.4 % and 36.5 % of the population fluctuation, respectively. Collectively, all weather parameters influenced the population to an extent of 60.3 %. The present study provides a pesticide-free approach for the management of the melon fruit fly, after considering all the weather factors influencing the results.