Studies on the Ovipositional Preference of Fruit Fly, Bactrocera zonata ON MANGO

Abstract

The female fruit fly preferred to lay their eggs under the skin of mango fruits and maximum numbers of eggs were laid on the proximal part (stalk side) and middle part of the mango fruits. The female fruit fly mostly preferred proximal part of the mango fruits for oviposition. The depth of eggs laid by female fruit fly, B. zonata in the mango fruits varied from 1.90 to 3.00 mm with an average of 2.45 ±0.33 mm. Number of oviposition puncture made by B. zonata varied from 1 to 12 in number with an average of 4.06 ± 2.49 oviposition punctures. The number of eggs laid by female in each puncture varied from 3 to 11 with an average of 7.05 ± 2.48 eggs.