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The tribe Dacini, within the sub-family Dacinae of the Tephritidae family, includes major fruit flies within the genera Zeugodacus, Bactrocera, and Dacus. The Bactrocera spp., which were previously grouped into subgenera Zeugodacus and Bactrocera, have been treated as separate genera in recent years. These dacine flies are widely spread in fruits and vegetables. The first dacine fruit fly, i.e. D. (Callantra) nepalensis reported in 1964 from Nepal is still a holotype. Altogether, 27 species have been reported in Nepal from three genera-Dacus (6), Zeugodacus (8), and Bactrocera (13), of which 10 species are attracted to cue-lure, 7 species to methyl eugenol, 2 species to zingerone, 1 species to lati-lure and 5 species to more than one lure, while lure for 2 species are unknown. Among them, 7 species are oligophagous pests, 6 species are polyphagous pests, and the pest status of 14 species is unknown. Fruit fly infestation and damage have been recorded in different crops such as; 5 species on cucurbits, 2 species on different fruits, 4 species on different fruits and vegetables, 1 species on citrus fruits, and 1 species on solanaceous vegetables. Three species; Z. cucurbitae, Z. tau, and B. minax, have been recorded from infested fruit cultures of cucurbits and sweet orange too. However, pest status, preferred hosts, and biology of many species remain yet to be explored and reported from Nepal. Further studies are necessary focusing on fruit fly species of economic importance concerning host preference for developing appropriate management strategy. Efforts are needed to identify the fruit fly species that inflict actual damage to the hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cauliflower production during the late winter season has major problems including the requirement of long duration for its maturity, lower yield and poor postharvest quality, especially in the mid-hill region of Nepal. A field experiment was conducted to access the growth, crop maturity and yield of late-season cauliflower varieties at Puranchaur, Kaski in the mid-hill region of Nepal. Methods: The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with toal eleven late-season cauliflower varieties in which nine were hybrid varieties viz. Freedom, Titan, Ravella, Artica, Bishop, Casper, Indam 9803, NS 106 and Snow Mystique while two were open pollinated varieties viz. Amazing and Snowball 16. The experiment was conducted from November 2016 to March 2017 with four replications. Result: Significantly shorter period for final curd initiation of 76 days was recorded in NS 106 and Indam 9803 which was statistically similar with Amazing. Significantly shorter period for final curd maturation of 90 days was recorded in Amazing which was statistically similar to Bishop and NS 106. Similarly, the highest curd yield of 50 mt/ha was produced by Bishop at 91 days after transplanting (DAT) while the lowest crud yield of 19 mt/ha was recorded in Snowball 16 at 113 DAT. Finally, it was concluded that Bishop found the best hybrid variety for higher curd yield and short duration for maturation while Amazing performed higher yield than Snowball 16 and early maturing variety in the mid-hill region of Nepal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fall armyworm (FAW) (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) is a polyphagous pest, native to North and South America and is invasive in Eurasia and Africa. Life cycle and morphometric studies with the invasive population of FAW in Nepal were conducted under laboratory conditions in Chitwan, Nepal. Gravid females laid an average of 156.25 eggs per egg batch, with an average of 979.43 eggs during their whole lifetime. The average pre-oviposition period was 3.75 days, oviposition period was 3 days, the larval developmental period was 16.31 days, the pupal period was 9.69 days, and the whole life cycle (egg to egg) averaged 33 days. The average length of each instar larva from I to VI instars was 1.5, 3.6, 7.1, 11.6, 18.5, and 34.4 mm, respectively. Head capsule widths for each instar were 0.35, 0.47, 0.8, 1.37, 2.11, and 2.7 mm, respectively for instars first through sixth. Pupal and adult emergence rates were 98.9 and 97.2%, respectively, with a male to female ratio of 1:1.3. Larval mortalities of the I, II, and III instars were 70, 66, and 12%, with no mortality in the IV, V and VI instars. Adult longevity was 20.73 days for males and 22.78 days for females. These findings are useful to design an integrated management protocol of the fall armyworm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to higher temperatures in Nepal's mid-hill region, postharvest quality of cauliflower faces significant challenges during the late winter season. To address this issue, a field experiment was conducted to evaluate the curd quality of eleven late-season cauliflower varieties. The experiment was set up in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD), with nine hybrid varieties (Freedom, Titan, Ravella, Artica, Bishop, Casper, Indam 9803, NS 106, and Snow Mystique) and two open pollinated varieties (Amazing and Snowball 16). The experiment was carried out over four replications from November 2016 to March 2018. Snowball 16 had the highest TSS value of 5.5 oBrix and pH of 6.5 when compared to other varieties. Snow Mystique had the highest vitamin C content of 48.5 mg/100 g, followed by Amazing and Snowball 16, compared to other varieties. At three, six, and nine days after harvesting, physiological weight loss was 4.0 percent and 8.0 percent in Bishop, and 13.3 percent in Artica, respectively. Snowball 16 received a significantly higher score of 8.5 tasty curds, followed by Amazing. Titan and Artica produced curds with the best appearance and compactness when compared to other varieties. Artica and Titan produced significantly more fresh curds than other varieties. Based on the taste and chemical parameters of the curds for the late winter season in Nepal's Mid-hill region, it was determined that Amazing was the best OP variety, while Artica, Titan, and Bishop were better hybrid varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fruit fly is one of the important insect pests of horticultural crops, both fruits and vegetables. After aphids, fruit fly was reported as a major insect problem in the plant clinic sessions from September 2013 to July 2016 in Nepal. The groups of horticultural crops most affected by fruit flies were cucurbitaceous vegetables, i.e. 79% of all fruit fly queries (bitter gourd, bottle gourd, chayote, cucumber, pumpkin, snake gourd, sponge gourd and squash) followed by fruits 14% (guava, sweet orange, mandarin, mango, peach, and pomegranate) and solanaceous vegetables 6% (brinjal, chillies and tomato). The fruit fly management measures, such as use of para-pheromone lure/traps, sanitation and cultural measures were mostly referred in plant clinics by plant doctors of Nepal. The availability of para-pheromone lures/traps as well as technical know-how of application focusing integrated management measures should be adopted to manage fruit fly in horticultural crops with the least disruption to the environment and human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A laboratory experiment was conducted to evaluate the level of effects by different concentrations of indigenous entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch.) Sorokin spores by dipping the non-target organisms, the silkworm, Bombyx mori L. in the fungus suspension at laboratory condition in Rampur, Chiwan, Nepal. The selected most virulent fungus isolate, among 26 was tested at different concentrations of 107, 106, 105, 104, 103 and 102 number of spores per ml including a control each replicated thrice to each of 30 fourth instar silkworm larvae. The mortality of silkworm larvae due to fungus started only after five days of the treatment and finally caused 70, 44.44, 28.88, 26.66, 23.33 and 3.33 percent death of silkworm larvae with 107, 106, 105, 104, 103 and 102 spores per ml of fungal conidial concentrations respectively. The larval body weight was significantly lower even one day after treatment in the lots treated with 107 spores as compared to other concentrations. On the third and fourth day of treatment, there was no significant difference in the body weight of silkworm larvae in all the treatments. There was significantly lower weight in the lots treated with 107 spores after fifth, sixth and seven days of treatment but after eighth days, there was no significant difference in the body weight with the treatments. The laboratory result indicated that even a small number of conidia of M. anisopliae (Metsch.) Sorokin caused mortality and was found hazardous to silkworms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]