Is Dacus ciliatus Loew also a predominant fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) in North Karnataka?

The melon fly, Bactrocera curcurbitae Coquillett and lesser pumpkin fruit fly, Dacus ciliatus Loew are the most destructive insect pests on cucurbits. Tephritidae is the most economically important family of Dipterain agriculture worldwide. Tephritidae consists of over 4000 species, of which nearly 700 belong to Dacine fruit flies (Fletcher, 1987). The first report on melon fruit flies was published by Bezzi (1913), who listed 39 species from India. Among the cucurbit fruit fly species, melon fly, Bactrocera curcurbitae and lesser pumpkin fruit fly, Dacus ciliatus are the most destructive insect pests on cucurbits (Shah et al., 1948). The melon fruit fly is distributed all over the world, but India is considered as its native home. Doharey (1983) reported that it infests over 70 host plants. Pumpkin fruit fly is one of the several fruit flies found in Africa and Asia, which could become serious pests throughout in large part of Africa and India. Although Pumpkin fruit fly is not serious as the melon fly, in areas where both species occur, heavy infestations of cucurbits by D. ciliatus have been reported in Egypt and in South Africa. Several studies have been devoted to their bioecology and management (Deguine et al., 2011).