LAUSR

Fruit flies being serious pest of fruits and vegetables are responsible for huge economic losses in the world. Pupal parasitoid, Dirhinus giffardii is one of the most significant biological control agents that has been used effectively in controlling the fruit flies. Laboratory studies were conducted to investigate the parasitism, emergence and post emergence sex ratio of D. giffardii through different exposure times and parasitoid density against the pupae of melon fruit fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae. The studies manifested that the exposure time and parasitoid density had a significant effect on the parasitism and emergence ratio of parasitoids. Results revealed that mean rate of parasitism (45.66) was the highest in case of five pair of parasitoids and mean rate of emergence (42.66) of D. giffardii was also the highest on exposure period of six days. Further, it was observed that, exposure time and parasitoid density had no significant effect on the post emergence sex ratio of male and female parasitoids. The mean per female parasitism was increasing with the increase in number of pairs of D. giffardii and reached to its peak after exposure time of six days. These findings suggest that D. giffardii has a great parasitizing potential against the pupae of B. cucurbitae and can effectively suppress its populations.