Investigations of the different control methods against melon fly [Myiopardalis pardalina (BIGOT 1891) (Diptera: Tephritidae)]

Melon fly is one of the most important pests in melon grown areas in the Southeastern Anatolia Region. When the melon approximately reaches the size of a hazelnut, the larvae hatched from the eggs that have been left by the female in the fruit shell feed on the flesh and move towards the house of fruit seed with the tunnels they open, leading to various damages. Such damaged melons are not preferred by consumers. Moreover, invincible losses decrease the commercial market value of melon. In this research, data related to different methods of struggle of melon fly which has caused significant economic losses in Southeastern Anatolia region were obtained both in the nature and in laboratory conditions. Nature researches were carried out in the trial area established in Şükürlü village of Çınar district between 2018-2019. The results of this study indicated that the Yellow sticky trap is not successful in compating Melon fly, whereas the paper bag, cheesecloth and onion extract were found to be more successful than other methods in the study. In the field studies, which were conducted by considering the number of holes in melon fruits, it was found that there is no difference between the number of holes and melon fly between the Balözü, Balhan, Local genotype and VT21 melon varieties. The number of holes was found to be the lowest in the local melon variety, while the highest number of holes was found in the Balözü melon variety. Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, one of the entomopathogenic nematodes, has been found to be effective in Melon fly in the laboratory environment.