Seasonal Incidence of Fruit Fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae on Bottle Gourd and their Correlation with Abiotic Factors

Abstract

The investigations on the “Seasonal incidence of fruit fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) on round gourd in relation to abiotic factors” were carried out at Horticultural farm of SKN College of Agriculture, Jobner, Jaipur during Summer, 2016. The initial infestation of fruit fly with 8.52 per cent was observed in mid March i.e. 30-35 days after sowing of the crop which increased gradually and reached to its peak, 36.42 per cent in the first week of April and there after it started declining. However, the infestation was observed till last picking of the fruits of the season. During peak period infestation the maximum and minimum temperatures 36.40 °C and 20 °C, respectively and relative humidity 38.5 per cent. There was no rainfall observed during the study period. The correlation studies revealed that the infestation of fruit fly on round gourd showed significantly positive correlation with maximum and minimum temperature (r =-0.5678).