Biology and morphometrics of peach fruit fly, Bactrocera zonata (Saunders) on mango.

The investigation on biology and morphometrics of Bactrocera zonata (Saunders) was undertaken at the Department of Entomology, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat, India during 2021-22. The eggs were smooth, white, shiny, translucent, rice grain shaped, slightly curved, elongated and tapered at the anterior end but broadly rounded at the posterior end. The hatching percentage was 82.63±6.94%. The incubation, maggot, pre-puparial, puparial, pre-oviposition, oviposition and post-oviposition periods were 2.40±0.48, 7.20±1.51, 0.77±0.11, 8.10±1.02, 12.3±1.13, 13.30±2.45 and 5.10±0.72 days, respectively. The morphometric measurements of egg, maggot, pre-puparia, puparia, adult male and female were also studied along with duration of different life stages. The pupationtook place at depth of 0.50 to 6.00 cm in moist soil. The sex ratio of male: female was 1:1.20. The fecundity of gravid female was 176±31.8 eggs/female. The total life cycle was completed in 22.00 to 36.00 days on mango. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]