Rearing of the cucurbit fly Dacus cilratus Loew (Dip: Tephritidae) on artificial diet under laboratory conditions

Abstract

Cucurbit fly is an important pest of cucurbit plants (Cucumber, melon and watermelon) in most mid-east countries including, Iran. This insect causes a high damage so that several sprayings are required to control the pest. Using male strile is another physical method for controlling this pest. For this purpose it is necessary to rear many male insects. Therefore an investigation was carried out to compare different artificial diets for rearing the melon fly. First, pupae were collected from cucurbit field and transferred to laboratory. In this experiment five diet formulations were compared and the following was used for rearing: Wheat bran (14 g), soybean lees (3 g) sugar (50 g), yeast extract (2.7 g) nipagin (0.1 g). sodiumbenzoate (0.1 g) Hydrochloric acid 3.5% (4.0 ml) and distilled water 70.5 mil. For rearing the adult, the best diets contained: Brower yeast (1 part), Honey (5 parts), water (94 parts) and a slice of cucumber. These diet caused abundance of oviposition and egg fertility.