Morphological and Molecular Diagnosis of the Cucurbit Fruit Fly (Dacus ciliates) and Physical Methods for its Control.

Abstract

The study was conducted in the field of five cucurbit crops (cucumber, Armenian cucumber, rosemary, watermelon, and Zucchini squash) attacked with the cucurbit fruit fly Dacus ciliates in the Buhayaz area (Salahaldin Governorate) during the 2023 fall season. The study aimed to conduct morphological and molecular diagnosis of the cucurbit fly and investigate methods for its control. The insect was identified morphologically as Dacus ciliates by the British Museum for Natural History. The identity was confirmed by molecular diagnosis, where the nucleotide sequence of the cytochrome oxidase gene was 100% identical with reference samples from the GenBank. The Iraqi colony/strain was registered in the GenBank under the international accession number MK249720.1. The results obtained indicated that the use of agricultural screen mesh was effective in controlling the cucurbit fruit fly.

Keywords:

Morphological diagnosis, molecular diagnosis, cucurbits fruit fly, physical control methods.