Major insect pests of cucurbits include the red pumpkin beetle, blister beetle, pumpkin fruit fly, and spotted beetle. These pests damage plants through feeding on roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits. Effective management strategies include removing and destroying infested fruits, applying recommended insecticides to control populations, and using traps and protein baits to attract fruit flies.

1. Lecture no. 12
INSECT PESTS OF cucurbits
R.K. Panse
Asstt. Prof. (Entomology)
Subject: Pests of crop and stored grain and their Management

2. Insect pests of cucurbits
Major insect pests
• Red Pumpkin Beetle, Aulacophora foveicollis (Coleoptera:
Chrysomelidae)
• Blister beetle, Mylabris phalerata (Meloidae: Coleoptera)
• Pumpkin Fruit Fly, Bactrocera curcubitae (Diptera: Tephritidae)
• Spotted Beetle, Epilachna vigintioctopunctata / E. Pussillanima
(Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

3. Red pumpkin beetle Blister beetle
Spotted beetle, Epilachna beetle Cucurbit fruit fly

4. Minor insect pests
• Cutworm, Agrotis segetum/A. ipsilon (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
• Flea Beetle, Phyllotreta crucifera (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)
• Aphids, Aphis gossypii/ Myzus persicae (Homoptera: Aphididae)
• Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae)
• Soybean Hairy Caterpillar, Spilarctia casigneta (Lepidoptera:
Arctiidae)
• Banded Blister Beetle, Mylabris orientalis (Coleoptera: Meloidae)
• Semilooper, Anadividia (Phytometra) peponis (Lepidoptera:
Noctuidae)
• Stem Boring Beetle, Apomecyna saltator (Coleoptera: Cerambicidae)

5. Cutworm ` Flea beetle
White fly Peach aphid Banded blisterbeetle
Stem boringbeetle

6. MYZUS PERSICAE (PEACH-POTATO APHID)
APHID COLONY
ALATE FORM APTEROUS

7. Soybean hairy catterpillar

8. S.N. Raphidopalpa (Aulacophora) foveicollis
Family: Chrysomelidae
Order: Coleoptera
Distribution: Red pumpkin is serious pest of
cucurbits which is widely distributed in Asia,
Australia, southern Europe and Africa.
Host plant: Ash gourd ,pumpkin, tinda, ghia
tori, cucumber and melon.
Red Pumpkin Beetle

9. Marks of Identification:
Egg: Brownish elongate eggs are laid in the soil and each
female may lay about 150 to 300 eggs singly or in groups of
8-9 near the base of plants.
Grub: Grubs are creamy white with darker oval shield at
back. Grub period is 13-25 days.
Pupa: Pupation takes place in an earthen cocoon. Pupal
period is 7-17 days.
Adult: Raphidopalpa foveicollis has reddish brown elytra
Total life cycle takes 26-27 days. There are 5 to 8
generations/year.

10. Life cycle:
• Concealed in groups under dry weeds,
bushes & plant remains or in the cervices
of soil.
• season warms up
• In life span of 60-85 days, lay about 300 oval
yellow eggs singly or in batches of 8-9 in moist
soil, near the base of the plants.
• The eggs hatch in 6-15 days and the grubs remain
below the soil surface feeding on roots,
underground stems of creepers and on fruits
laying in contact with the soil.
• They are full grown in 13-25 days and pupate in thick walled earthen chambers in the soil, at a depth of about 20-
25 cm.
• The pupal stage lasts 7-17 days and the beetles, on emergence, begin to feed and breed.
• The life cycle is completed in 26-37 days and the pest breeds five times from March to October.

11. Damage:
• The beetles are very destructive to cucurbitaceous vegetables,
particularly during March-April when the creepers are very
young.
• The grubs damage the plants by boring into the roots,
underground stems & sometimes into the fruits touching the
soil.
• The beetles injure the cotyledons, flowers and foliage by
biting holes into them.
• The early sown cucurbits are to severely damage.

12. Management:
• Infested fields plough deep to kill the grubs in the soil.
• Flooding irrigation in the field.
• Sow the crop in November to avoid damage by this pest
• Apply 7Kg of carbofuran 3G per ha 3-4 cm deep in the soil near
the base of the plants just after germination and irrigate.
• Spray 375g of Carbaryl 50WP in 250 liters of water per ha

13. Pumpkin Fruit Fly
• This is the most destructive pest of cucurbits.
S.N. Bactrocera curcubitae
Order: Diptera
Family: Tephritidae)

14. Life cycle
• This pest is active throughout the year, but the life cycle is prolonged during winter.
• The adult flies emerge form pupae in the morning hours and mate at dusk.
• It takes a few days for the eggs to mature inside the body of female which starts
laying them within 14 days.
• During winter, the pre-oviposition period is prolonged.
• They oviposit in comparatively soft fruits avoiding those with hard rind.
• The selection of a suitable sites and the actual laying of eggs take about 6-8 minutes.
• A cavity is made by sharp ovipositor and about a dozen white cylindrical egg are laid,
mostly in the evening hours.
• After laying the eggs, the female releases a gummy secretion which cements the
tissues surrounding the pucture and makes the entrance water proof.
• The female, on an average lay 58-95 eggs in 14-54 days.

17. Life cycle continue
• The egg hatch in 1-9 days and the maggots bore into the pulp forming galleries.
• The attacked fruits decay because of secondary bacterial infection.
• The larva are full grown in 3 days during summer & 3 weeks during winter.
• The mature larvae come out of the rotten fruits and move away in jumps of 12-20
cm.
• These are made possible by folding & unfolding the two ends of the elongated
body.
• After reaching a suitable place, they bury themselves about 5 mm deep in the soil
and pupate.
• The pupae are barrel shaped, light brown & they transform themselves into winged
adults in 6-9 days in the rainy season and 3-4 weeks in the winter.
• There are several generations in a year.

18. Damage:
• The maggot pollute and destroy fruits by feeding on the pulp.
• The damage caused by this fruit fly is most serious in cucurbits
• After the first shower of the monsoon, the infestation often
reaches up to 100 percent

19. Management:
• The regular removal & destruction of the infested fruits
• Frequent raking of the soil under the vine/ ploughing the infested field after crop
harvested can help in killing the pupae.
• Install Cue lure trap (3 traps per ropani)
• Foliar spray of malathion 50%EC @ 2ml/liter @2g jaggery/liter of malation solution.
• Treat root zone soil of plants with Malation 5% Dust@ 20 kg/ha to kill hibernating
pupa
• Use protein bait spray (Malathion+hydrolysed protein+ water at few spots in a field.
Both male and female are attracted to ammonia generated by protein sources.
• Use food lure@ 1kg pumpkin and & 100 gm of jaggery and 10 ml malathion.
• Apply bait spray containing 50ml malation 50EC +0.5kg of sugar in 50 liters of water
per ha. Repeat the spray if problem is serious.

20. Distribution
All over India
Host range
Cucurbits, Brinjal, Tomato and Potato
Spotted beetle or Hadda beetle
S.N. Henosepilachna (= Epilachna)
vigintioctopunctata
E. implicata, E. Dodecastigma
Family: Coccinellidae
Order : Coleoptera

21. Biology of E.vigintioctopunctata
Egg period: 2-4 days
Cigar shaped yellow coloured eggs,
10 – 20 eggs in groups – undersurface of the leaves
Grub: 10-13 days
Yellowish, stout with spines all
over the body
Pupal: 3 –5 days
Dark coloured pupae
Adult:
Red in colour
7-14 black spots on
each elytron
TLC: 20-50 days

23. Damage:
• Both the adults and grub cause damage by feeding on the
lower and upper surface of leaves.
• They eat up regular areas of the leaf tissue, leaving parallel
band of uneaten tissue in between.
• The leaves become a lace like appearances.
• They turn brown, dry up and fall off and completely skeletonize
the plants.

24. Management
Collect damaged leaves with grubs and egg masses and destroy them
Shake plants to dislodge grubs, pupae and adults
Conserve natural enemies in brinjal ecosystem
Insecticides
Carbaryl 50 WP @1300 gm / ha or
chlorpyriphos 20 EC @ 2ml /lit to reduce the population of the beetle

25. Blister beetle
S.N.: Mylabris phalerata
Family: Meloidae
Order : Coleoptera
Identification of the pest
•Adult – Elytra are black in colour with a
round orange spot and two transverse wavy
orange bands across the wings.
Symptoms of damage
The adult feeds voraciously on buds and
flowers

26. Management
In isolated pigeonpea plots
The beetles can be controlled manually by picking
Most insecticides are not very effective against these beetles,
but synthetic pyrethroids such as cypermethrin 10 EC @ 1.0 ml/l
or lamda cyhalothrin 5 EC @ 1.0 ml/l work reasonably well.