1Department of Agricultural Entomology, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Madurai625104, Tamil Nadu, India
2Directorate of Centre for Plant Protection Studies, TNAU, Coimbatore641003, Tamil Nadu, India
3Department of Chemistry, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli627012, Tamil Nadu, India
4Department of Biotechnology, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Madurai625104, Tamil Nadu, India
*Email: nithyayogesh0509@gmail.com (corresponding author): ORCID ID 0009-0009-6597-976X
Online Published on 31 August, 2024.
In India, melon fruit fly Zeugodacus cucurbitae Coquillett is a destructive insect pest of cucurbits. This study evaluated its attraction towards gel protein bait, an improvised version of liquid protein bait, found to be attractive in previous studies in snake gourd. Two field experiments were conducted for four months each (preliminary one - January to April, 2023; and confirmatory one - April to July, 2023). In early fruiting and fruiting stages, gel protein bait significantly attracted more females than the liquid protein bait; as regards male, cuelure trap attracted more followed by gel protein and liquid protein bait traps. Evaporation of gel protein bait in the field conditions was comparatively less from that of liquid protein bait.
Zeugodacus cucurbitae, Gel protein bait, Liquid protein bait, Cuelure, Negative control, Untreated control, Snake gourd, Attraction capacity, Male to female ratio, Evaporation
