Insect pests and their natural enemies in Zucchini

Abstract

An investigation was conducted during 2021-2022 to study the insect pests’ population and their natural enemies in zucchini under a naturally ventilated polyhouse at Experimental Farm, Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam, India. Five insect pests: Aleurodicus disperses, Aphis gossypii, Aulacophora foveicollis, Bactrocera cucurbitae and Psedodentrothrips spp were prevalent from October to March in the field conditions. Among them, Aleurodicus disperse and Aphis gossypii causes viral infection in the early vegetative stage whereas Bactrocera cucurbitae cause damage during the flowering and fruiting stage. Two predators Coccinella transversalis and Coccinella septempunctata were abundant during this growing period.