Adult emergence percentage from irradiated fruit flies, Bactrocera zonata and Bactrocera cucurbitae pupae

Fruit flies are regarded as one of the most devastating pest of fruits and vegetables on earth planet. Generally chemical control is implemented for their control but it poses lot of eco-environmental concerns so the emphasis is now turning towards eco-friendly management practices.  Bio-control is an efficient and environmentally sound approach and augmentation is primarily focus on classical biological control program. In this study, eight sub-sterilizing doses of 0, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 were tested against Bactrocera zonata and Bactrocera cucurbitae pupae. The results showed that radiation prolong the duration of pupal stage and hatching is reduced by applying radiation. This also shows that when the quantity of the radiation increases, the adult emergence decreases. This study could be very useful in exploiting the potential host for longer period of time for culturing their pupal parasitoids.      Key words: Sub sterilizing doses, radiation, fruit flies and emergence.