Biology, Morphometrics and Field Behaviour of Mango Fruit Borer, Citripestis eutraphera (Meyrick) in Gujarat (India)

Abstract

The biology, morphometrics and field behaviour of mango fruit borer, Citripestis eutraphera (Meyrick), has been studied at Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat (India) during 2022. Field observations and laboratory studies revealed that adult females laid an average of 41.15 ± 7.22 white coloured eggs on upper 1/3 portion of fruit along the periphery at junction of peduncle and fruit which turned red after 1-2 days. The incubation period averaged 2.48 ± 0.50 days. Larva passed through five instars over a period of 13.4 ± 0.81 days. Dark brown to black colour fully grown larvae mostly pupated in soil, with pupal period of 7.6 ± 0.86 days. The longevity of female and male adult was 8.04 ± 0.88 days and 3.96 ± 0.73 days with total life span of 36.04 ± 1.83 days and 31.92 ± 1.95 days, respectively. The sex ratio of male as to female was 1: 1.53. The pre-oviposition, oviposition and post-oviposition periods were 2.8 ± 0.81 days, 2.24 ± 0.77 days and 2.16 ± 0.68 days, respectively. Newly emerged larvae scraped the fruit’s skin and peduncle while late instars bored through fruit pulp and soft seed/kernel due to which fruit rotting and dropping was observed. A maximum thirteen larvae per fruit were observed during infestation. The present study on biology, morphometric and field behaviour of C. eutraphera helps in developing effective and sustainable pest management practices, including integrated pest management (IPM), which minimizes reliance on chemical pesticides.