PESTS OF CUCURBITS

Mr. K. THIRUVENGADAM
Assistant Professor (Entomology)
RVS AC - Thanjavur
Importance

• Most of the plants in this family are annual vines, but some are
woody lianas, thorny shrubs, or trees (Dendrosicyos). Many species
have large, yellow or white flowers. The stems are hairy and
pentangular. Tendrils are present at 90° to the leaf petioles at nodes.
Leaves are exstipulate alternate simple palmately lobed or palmately
compound. The flowers are unisexual, with male and female flowers
on different plants (dioecious) or on the same plant (monoecious).
The female flowers have inferior ovaries. The fruit is often a kind of
modified berry called a pepo.
• The fruits of cucurbits are very useful in terms of human health, i.e.
purification of blood, removal of constipation, good for digestion, and
a rich source of energy (Rahaman, 2004). Thus, cucurbits are well
known for their nutritive value and health benefits
 Melon fruit fly: Bactrocera cucurbitae,
Tephritidae: Diptera

Distribution
East Africa, Northan Australia, Taiwan,
Japan, South China, South East Asia and India
Musk Melon, Melon, Bitter Gourd, and
Snake Gourd

Symptoms:
The maggots feed on the pulp and seeds of the fruits
Oozing of resinous fluid from fruits, distorted and malformed
fruits, premature dropping of fruits
Unfit for consumption
Melon fruit fly: Bactrocera cucurbitae,
Tephritidae: Diptera
Melon fruit fly: Bactrocera cucurbitae,
Tephritidae: Diptera

Biology Egg period: 1 day

1-26 eggsfemale
Adult:
Reddish brown fly
with lemon yellow Maggot period : 3-21 days
curved vertical Dirty white apodous maggot
markings - thorax
Pupal period : 3-9days
Pupation: soil
Adult:
B.cucurbitae: Reddish brown fly with
lemon yellow curved vertical
markings – thorax Hyaline wings
B.ciliatus: Brownish body with brown
oval spot on either side of 3rd tergite.
Smaller than B.cucurbitae
B.zonata: Body yellow with pale
yellow band on 3rd tergite
 Infected fruit Split on fruit

Stunted fruit

Gumosis on fruit
Brownish internal tissue
Management
Grow resistant varieties: Arka – tinda ( round gourd);
Arka-saryamakhia (pumpkin)
Change the sowing dates as the fly population is low in hot
dry conditions and its peak during rainy season
Ribbed gourd as trap crop – malathion 50 EC 2 ml/ lit of
water on congregating adult flies- undersurface of leaves
Use attractants – citronella oil, eucalyptus oil, vinegar oil
(acetic acid), destrose and lactic acid
Collect and destroy all fallen and damaged fruits
Rake up soil under vines or plough infested field to
destroy puparia
Polythene sachet methyl eugenol lure trap @ 25/ ha or
 Prepare methyl eugenol and malathion 50 EC mixture @
1:1 and take 10 ml/ polythene bag with six holes and place
12 traps/ ha or
Keep 5 g wet fish meal in a polythene bag with six holes
and add 0.1 of dichlorvos – 12 traps/ha
Use bait spray: molasses or jaggery 10 g/lit + fenthion
100 EC 1ml/ lit or malathion 50 EC 2ml/lit or dimethoate
30 EC 1ml/lit, tow rounds at fortnight interval before
ripening of the fruits
Spray neem oil 2% to prevent the oviposition by adult
flies
Neem seed kernel extract 5% to deter the flies against
egg laying
Do not use DDT, Lindane, 1.3% dust, copper fungicides
and sulphur dusts - phytotoxic
Stem borer or clear winged moth: Melittia eurytion
Aegeriidae: Lepidoptera
Distribution
•White larvae bore
All over India into the stems
producing galls.
Host range • Frass comes out
Snake gourd of the gall through
a hole made on it.
• Plants stunted
Biology
with poor foliage.

Eggs laid – lower surface of leaves

Adult:
Larva: White in colour
Clear winged with fan
– like tufts of hairs on
legs Pupal period: 20-24 days
Pupation: earthen cocoon in the soil
Stem borer or clear winged moth: Melittia eurytion
Aegeriidae: Lepidoptera
Management
Collect and destroy the damaged plant parts with
larvae
Encourage activity of parasitoid: Apanteles spp.
Insecticides: Malathion 50 EC @ 500 ml or dimethoate 30
EC 500 ml and methyl demeton 25 EC@ 500 ml/ ha
Snake gourd stem weevil, Baris trichosanthis
F: Curculionidae; O: Coleoptera

Symptoms:
Grub bores into the stem/petiole and causes withering of leaves
Adult:
Small black weevil and feeds on leaves
LEAF FEEDERS
Pumpkin semilooper: Plusia signata, P. peponis
Noctuidae: Lepidoptera
Distribution
All over India

Host range
Snake gourd

Symptoms:
Larva cuts the edges of leaf lamina,
folds it over the leaf and feeds from
within the leaf roll
Pumpkin semilooper: Plusia signata, P. peponis
Noctuidae: Lepidoptera

Biology
Egg period: 4 -5 days
White spherical eggs laid singly –
tender leaves
Adult:
Larval period : 28 days
Brown moth with Green in colour with
shiny brown longitudinal white stripe,
forewings humped last abdominal
Pupal period : 5-7 days segments
Pupation: inside leaf fold
Management
Collect and destroy the caterpillars
Encourage activity of Apanteles taragamae
A. plusiae
Insecticides: Malathion 50EC @ 500 ml/ ha or
dimethoate 30 EC @ 500ml/ha or methyl demeton 25
EC @ 500ml/ha
 Pumpkin beetle: Aulacophora foveicollis
A.cincta, A. intermedia
Galerucidae: Coleoptera
DistributionIndia, Symptoms:
Asia, Australia, Africa Grubs feed on the roots, stem and
and Southern Europe fruits that spread over the soil. Adults
Host range feed on leaf and flower
Pumpkin, Ash gourd, Melon and Cucumber *Adult hibernation
Egg period:6-15 days
Biology 300 eggs/female
Eggs laid singly or groups in soil
Adult:
A.foveicollis – red Grub period : 13-25 days
coloured beetle Creamy yellow
A.cincta- grey
coloured beetle Pupal period : 7-17 days
A. Intermedia – blue Pupation: soil
coloured beetle
A.foveicollis – red coloured beetle

A.cincta- grey coloured beetle

A. Intermedia – blue coloured

beetle
 Management

Deep plough the cucurbits fields just after harvesting to minimize the
beetles

Collect and destroy adult beetles

Sow cucumber in April – May to escape from the pest attack

Carbofuran 3 G @ 50 kg /ha at sowing, vining and flowering stages

Malathion 50 EC @ 500 ml or dimethoate 30 EC 500 ml and methyl

demeton 25 EC@ 500 ml/ ha
Pumpkin caterpillar: Diaphania indica
Pyraustidae: Lepidoptera

Distribution
All over India

Host range
Cucurbitaceous plants

Damage: Folds and feed leaves

 Pumpkin caterpillar: Diaphania indica
Pyraustidae: Lepidoptera

Biology
Adult:
Medium sized moth Egg period: 3-6 days
having white Eggs laid singly or in groups –lower surface of leaves
transparent wings
with big brown
marginal patches. Larval period : 9-14 days
Female has tuft of Bright green with a pair of white
orange coloured hairs mid dorsal lines
at its anal end Pupal period : 5-13 days
Pupation: inside a cocoon among the leaves
Management
Collect and destroy early stage caterpillars
Encourage activity of parasioid: Apanteles spp.
Insecticides: Malathion 50 EC @ 500 ml or dimethoate 30 EC
500 ml and methyl demeton 25 EC@ 500 ml/ ha
 Spotted beetle,
Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata
F: Coccinellidae; O: Coleoptera
Symptoms:
Both grubs and adults feed by scrapping
chlorophyll from epidermal layers of leaves
which get skeletonized and gradually dry up
Grub:
Yellowish in colour and stout with spines all
over the body
Adult:
Spherical pale brown and mottled with black
spots (14) on each elytron
Bottle gourd plume moth: Sphenarches caffer
Pterophoridae:Lepidoptera

Distribution
India, South and East Africa, Japan,
Indonesia and Philippines

Host range
Biology
Bottle gourd
Eggs laid singly – buds and leaves

Adult: Yellowish green with

Tiny plume moth spines all over body

Greenish – brown pupa

Management
Collect and destroy larvae and pupae
Insecticides: Malathion 50 EC @ 500 ml or dimethoate 30 EC
500 ml and methyl demeton 25 EC@ 500 ml/ ha
Leaf miner: Liriomyza trifolii

Identification of pest:
•Larva: Minute orange yellowish apodous maggots.
•Pupa: Pupates within mines.
•Adult: Pale yellow in colour
Management:
•Collect and destroy mined leaves
•Spray NSKE 3%
Stem gall fly: Neolasioptera falcata
Stem gall fly: Neolasioptera falcata

•Symptoms of damage:
•Maggots bore into the distal shoot and form galls
•Identification of pest:
•Adult: slender dark brown mosquito like fly
•Management:
•Spray any following insecticides
• Malathion 50 EC @ 500 ml
• Dimethoate 30 EC 500 ml
• Methyl demeton 25 EC @ 500 ml/ ha
Note

• Do not use HCH (BHC), DDT, copper and sulphur

• Phytotoxic to gourds