Pest Management in Horticultural Ecosystems, Vol. 21, No. 1 pp 88-89 (2015)
RESEARCH NOTE
Oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) infestation makes banana crop vulnerable to Indian blue peafowls attack P. D. KAMALA JAYANTHI, VIVEK KEMPRAJ, M. A. RAVINDRA and ABRAHAM VERGHESE Division of Entomology and Nematology, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta Lake P.O., Bengaluru - 560089, India E-mail:
[email protected] ABSTRACT: Regular surveillance during March, 2013 in Mandya district, Karnataka, India revealed significant damage from Indian blue peafowls, Pavo cristatus (also known as peacocks) to standing crop of banana (cv. Grand Naine). Critical observation revealed that random oviposition injuries by Oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae) on few banana fingers led to premature ripening of fingers with distinct colour change. Such fingers attracted birds, P. cristatus in large numbers that inflicted damage to the standing banana crop suggesting that tiny oriental fruit fly oviposition punctures paves the way to peacocks. Keywords: Bactrocera dorsalis, banana, bird damage, Pavo cristatus, peacocks
Tephritid fruit flies, also known as peacock flies, due to their elaborate, colorful markings on their wings and body, usually breed on several wild and cultivated fruits/ vegetables the world over. In India, the Oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is known to cause severe damage to cultivated fruit crops like mango, guava, custard apple etc (Verghese et al., 2013). Though this fly is known to attack several commercial fruit crops, its incidence on banana in the field is limited and is regarded as an unusual host for oriental fruit fly as usually they do not infest bananas when unripe (White Ian and Harris, 1992; Kamala Ja ya nthi and Verghe se, 2002; Armstrong, 1983). Nevertheless, during regular surveillance (March, 2013) in Malavalli Tehsil (12° 39´ N; 77° 05´ E), Mandya district, Karnataka area we came across Indian blue peafowls, Pavo cristatus (also known as peacocks) causing substantial damage (up to 5-8%) to the standing crop of banana (cv. Grand Naine also called as G9) in 4 ha orchard in isolated patches. Being climacteric, banana is harvested green (before it was ripe) and subjected to post-harvest ripening process. Earlier, these green immature bananas never attracted P. cristatus birds.
Mean: 2.50 + 0.65) by oriental fruit fly, B. dorsalis, making them ripen faster (prematurely) with distinct color change. Such random premature ripened fruit fly infested banana fingers are particularly attractive to peacocks. However, the healthy banana bunches without fruit fly damage did not attract the bird attention. The birds were found damaging bunches mainly during dawn and dusk periods of the day. Ge nerally, under field c onditions , the initial ovipositional injury by female B. dor salis on physiologically mature fruits and subsequent maggot development leads to rotting of pulp resulting in premature ripening of damaged fruits. The maggots feed on the rotting pulp before leaving the fruit to pupate in the soil (Kamala Jayanthi and Verghese, 2000). However, in the present case, the initial oviposition injury by fruit flies and the subsequent maggot development in banana fingers as shown in figure 1 attracted the attention of P. cristatus that ravaged the whole bunch. Several management options are being practiced including the male annihilation technique using methyl eugenol to attract and kill male fruit flies prevent premature ripening of fingers and may avert attention from feral P. cristatus population.
Close inspe ction of damaged banana bunches revea le d that random ovipos ition injury on fe w ba na na finge rs (Ra nge: 1-4 finge rs per bunch; 88
Peafowl damage in banana (a)
(b)
(d)
(e)
(c)
(f)
Fig. 1. Randomly ripened banana fingers in banana bunch on the plant due to fruit fly, B. dorsalis damage (a); P. cristatus pecked banana fingers (b); severely damaged banana bunches due to P. cristatus feeding (c&d); Ripened banana finger showing rotting pulp due to B. dorsalis damage (e) and initial oviposition punctures with initial stage of rotting (f)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Authors thank the Director, ICAR - Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru for providing research facilities and financial support from ICAR National Fellow project is duly acknowledged.
Kamala Jayanthi, P. D. and Verghese, A. 2002. A simple and cost-effective mass rearing technique for the tephritid fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel). Current Science, 82(3): 266-268. Verghese, A., Shivananda, T. S., Kamala Jayanthi, P. D., and Sreedevi, K. 2013. Frank Milburn Howlett (1877-1920): Discoverer of the pied piper’s lure for the fruit flies (Tephritidae: Diptera). Current Science, 105 (2): 260-262.
REFERENCES Armstrong, J. W. 1983. Infestation biology of three fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) Species on ‘Brazilian,’ ‘Valery,’ and William’s’ Cultivars of Banana in Hawaii. Journal of Economic Entomology, 76(3): 539-543.
White Ian, M. and Harris, M. M. E., in Fruit flies of Economic Significance: Their Identification and Bionomics CAB International, Wallingford, UK, 1992, p. 187.
Kamala Jayanthi, P. D. and Verghese, A. 2000. Mango fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) prefers moist soil for pupation. Insect Environment, 6(3): 99.
Pest Management in Horticultural Ecosystems, Vol. 21, No. 1 pp 88-89 (2015)
MS Received : 10 March 2015 MS Accepted : 12 May 2015
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