Abstract: Based on a field survey from 2017, twenty-three species are reported from Bhutan for the first time: Acroceratitis ceratitina, A. hardyi, Anomoia approximata, Bactrocera connecta, B. latifrons, B. nigrifacia, B. syzygii, Campiglossa sororcula, Cecidochares connexa, Dacus jacobi, Gastrozona fasciventris, Hoplandromyia antelopa, Lenitovena ultima, Ptilona confinis, Rioxoptilona dunlopi, R. formosana, R. vaga, Spathulina acroleuca, Themara yunnana, Trypeta indica, Zeugodacus apiciflavus, Z. diversus, and Z. fereuncinatus. Four species of the genera Cornutrypeta, Hemilea, Morinowotome, and Vidalia are also recorded for the first time, but the precise determination to species needs additional study and material. As the result, 71 species is listed from Bhutan by far. Their taxonomic position and key characters are discussed. Illustrations for most of the newly recorded species are given.

Abstract: Fruit flies (Diptera, Tephritidae) represent a major threat to cucurbit production in Tanzania. They cause huge economic losses on cucurbit crops. Information on the infestation and yield loss caused by fruit flies on cucurbit crops is vital in designing a sound fruit fly management program. We identified the fruit fly species attacking cucurbit crops (Cucurbitales: Cucurbitaceae): cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus [Thunb.] Matsum. & Nakai) and squash (Cucurbita moschata D.) in the Morogoro region and quantified their incidence and infestation per crop species. A weekly sampling of ten fruits per crop was repeated twice per plot for each zone for five consecutive weeks between March and October 2020. The number of fruit flies emerging from the collected fruits was quantified and infestation per crop species was determined. We observed significant differences in infestation between cucurbit species, across zones and seasons. Squash showed the highest infestation of Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillet) in both zones followed by watermelon. Watermelon was highly infested by Dacus vertebratus (Bigot) in the plateau zone followed by squash. Squash showed the highest infestation of Dacus ciliatus Loew in the plateau zone followed by watermelon. Cucumber had the lowest infestation for all fruit fly species.

Abstract: Field experiment was carried out during the autumn season in the Alam area in the east of Tikrit to study the integration of the three types of chemical pesticides (Media, Wide and Decis) and four cucumber varieties (Gazer, Amin, Najim and Zena) and Mass trapping technique by using Macphil traps that they contained female food attractive FLYCAP MASS to control cucurbits fruit fly Dacus ciliatus (Loew) in three open fields, the first field applied pesticides only, the second field applied pesticides and Mass trapping technique traps, and the third field for comparison (without pesticides and traps), was conducted two sprays for pesticides, the first spray after fruits setting directly and the second spray after week of the first spray . Results showed that the application of pesticides alone in the first field had not been able to give good protection to the cucumber fruits from injury with cucurbits fruit fly Dacus ciliatus while the treatment of pesticides , varieties and Macphil traps in the second field that integrated each other in reducing the percentage of infected fruits to achieve good protection of the fruits and they showed that Integration between Mass traping technique by using Macphil traps that they contained FLYCAP MASS and Najim variety and Decis pesticide gave lower infected fruits percentage from 84.15% to 18.61% after one week of second spray, and reduce the number of larvae in Najim variety fruits from 7 Larva / fruit to 0.67 Larva / fruit and they reduced numbers of adults in the second field to 69.15% compared with the reduction percentage of the adults did not exceed 27.15% in the first field (treated with pesticides only) after one week of second spray.

Abstract: Abstract Dacus frontalis (Diptera: Tephritidae) is an emerging species affecting fruit production in Africa and can poses a serious risk to Cucurbitaceae fruit producing industry in Europe as a response to climat change. To understand how temperature impacts specie’s fitness , population dynamics and consequently its invasive potential, we studied for the first time survival and development time of immature stages, and longevity and fecundity of D. frontalis adults in laboratory at four constant temperatures of 15, 20, 25 and 30°C. Results showed that temperature has significant effect on the survival, development, reproduction and longevity of the pumpkin fruit fly. The highest survival rates of egg, larvae, pupae, female and male adults were observed at 20°C. The developmental time of immature stages and from egg to adult significantly decreased with increasing temperature from 15 to 30°C. Female produces significantly the highest number of eggs at 20°C, but no oviposition was observed at 15°C. Pupae are able to survive at 15°C with highest development time, suggesting that this tephritid species can overwinter as pupae in the field. The thermal requirement can explain the seasonality of D. frontalis observed in North Africa and a temperature range of 20 ± 1°C appears to be most suitable for the population growth as well as the rearing of this insect in the laboratory. Practical implications for pest management were discussed.

Abstract: Some morphological features of Dacus ciliatus (Loew) reported for the first time in Tunisia were studied herein. Also during this study, the efficacy of food attractants and attract-and-kill devices were tested against D. ciliatus. To do so, McPhail® traps baited with diammonium phosphate (DAP©) and protein hydrolysate (Ceratrap©), already known as food attractants for fruit flies, were compared in zucchini and cucumber crops. A novel attract and kill system (Ceranock© female and male) was also applied in the two cited crops. Moreover, our data highlighted the usefulness of DAP© as effective food attractant with a high number of trapped adults compared to Ceratrap© baited traps. Few adults were recorded by Ceratrap© only in Zucchini treated crop 1 (0.42±0.49 and 0.28±0.69 respectively for males and females) compared to the other surveyed crops. Attract and kill system achieved good control of the pest by decreasing the number of captured flies in treated crops compared to the untreated crops. The use of attract and kill system showed promising results and can successfully be used to manage the lesser pumpkin fly in Tunisian cucurbit crops.

Abstract: O levantamento das espécies de moscas-das-frutas, especialmente as da família Tephritidae, na cultura de pimenta malagueta (Capsicum frutescens) é importante para melhor compreensão no monitoramento e controle desses grupos de insetos, dada sua importância econômica para a produção de pimenta malagueta. As moscas-das-frutas são responsáveis por grandes perdas em fruteiras comerciais, por isso, é fundamental conhecer as espécies predominantes na região. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a influência de moscas-das-frutas (Diptera: Tephritidae) no cultivo de pimenta malagueta, no semiárido Moçambicano. Realizou-se uma seleção dos frutos maduros infestados (com larvas e/ou com sintomas de ataque de moscas-das-frutas) de forma sistemática. Foi recolhido um fruto em cada planta, tendo como alvos frutos danificados e não danificados. Foi necessário a distribuição de armadilhas na área e subsequente recolhimento das moscas. Os resultados obtidos indicam que no monitoramento com armadilhas ocorreu predominância de gênero Dacus em relação ao gênero Ceratitis. Os picos populacionais de cada safras (2013 e 2014), ocorrem no segundo semestre em meses de maturação dos frutos em todos os gêneros. Registra-se em condições da fazenda, a ocorrência de espécies como: Celidodacus sp., Ceratitis capitata, C. cosyra, C. millicentae, C. rosa, Dacus sp., Dacus bivittatus, D. famona, D. hamatus, D. humeralis, D. punctatifrons. Concluiu-se que o ataque de moscas-das-frutas influenciou de forma significativa na produtividade, causando danos econômicos, sendo necessário um controle redobrado. O uso sequencial das iscas ao longo do tempo, aumenta o número de populações capturadas com registro dos gêneros Ceratitis e Dacus. O uso de armadilhas não foi eficiente no controle moscas-das-frutas nas áreas de produção.

Abstract: Fruit flies are a major constraint on the production and marketing of fruits and vegetables in Togo. It is important to master the bioecology of fruits flies before setting up a method for managing their populations effectively, sustainably, at low cost and with regard for environment health. In this context, this study was carried out to evaluate interaction between fruit flies and their respective host plants. Fruits and vegetables were sampled in 2019 in ecological zones III, IV and V in Togo. Fruits and vegetables incubation allowed to identify 15 host plants associated with 8 species of fruit flies belonging to the genera Bactrocera, Ceratitis, Dacus and Zeugodacus. Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) and Ceratitis cosyra (Walker) were the most abundant with respectively 47.51 and 46.03% of the 6858 flies recovered. The infestation rate of the mango by B. dorsalis ranged from 1.93 to 70.83 flies/kg of fruit. Among the 7 host plants associated with B. dorsalis, the mango was the most infested cultivated fruit and the African apple the most infested wild fruit (F = 3.077, df = 6, p = 0.008). This study expands the available database on the interactions between fruit flies and their hosts in Togo.

Abstract: Abstract The cucurbit fruit fly or melon fly, Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquilett) is the most devastating pest of horticultural crops. Laboratory research with maggots and adults of fruit flies necessitates the need for mass rearing. Only a few artificial diets have been evaluated for mass rearing of Z. cucurbitae . With this mandate, the present study was formulated to evaluate the fitness of different artificial diets on Z. cucurbitae maggots in comparison with the natural hosts cucumber and pumpkin. Age-stage, two-sex life table approach was used to assess the efficacy of the artificial diets. Developmental duration (egg, maggots, pre-pupa, pupa), adult longevity, lifespan, adult pre-oviposition period (APOP), total pre-oviposition period (TPOP), oviposition period, fecundity and sex ratio were observed for life table analysis. Among the artificial diets evaluated, only D6 supported the survival and growth of maggots. Significant differences were observed in the developmental duration of maggots in D6 to the natural hosts cucumber and pumpkin. Other biological parameters and population parameters observed on the artificial diet D6 were statistically equivalent with the natural hosts. Thus, the semi-artificial solid diet D6 developed based on pumpkin and common bean powder without anti-microbial agents can promisingly be used for efficient mass rearing and laboratory research on Z. cucurbitae maggots.