Flower bud fly infestation and its relationship with the morphological and phenological aspects of sour passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) in southern Santa Catarina state

Abstract The objective of this work was to evaluate the infestation of the flower-bud-fly in different sizes of flower buds and to relate the infestation with the plant phenology and weather variables. In the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons, flower buds of plants were collected to obtain pupae, adults, and parasitoids in a commercial orchard of sour passion fruit, in Sombrio, state of Santa Catarina. The level of infestation, pupal viability, and percentage of parasitism were calculated. Every fortnight, the vegetative and reproductive structures of 12 orchard plants (0.25 m² per plant), randomly distributed, were monitored, as soon as they reached the height of the trellis. Three population peaks of the floral bud fly were observed in the seasons, which preferred to oviposit in buds larger than 2 cm. The critical period for pest monitoring and control occurred between November and December. The average temperature and precipitation were the main factors that influenced the production of sour passion fruit. The average temperature was correlated with the emission of flower buds and the emergence of lonqueids. D. inedulis was the predominant species in flower buds, in which Dasiopssp.1, Dasiops sp. 2, and Neosilba certa were reported for the first time. It was also the first report of Utetes anastrephae and Aganaspis pelleranoias parasitoids of larvae-pupae of the flower bud fly of the sour passion fruit tree in Santa Catarina.