What's eating my round melon?

Round melon (Praecitrullus fistulosus) is a cucurbit grown mainly in South Asian climates and faces similar pest pressure to other melons. The melon fruit fly is the most damaging pest, boring into young fruits. Leaf beetles, leafminers, and red spider mites also attack foliage and reduce yields by 30–40% in bad seasons.

Punctured fruit with internal larval tunneling; fruits rot and drop early; worst in warm humid conditions Set up protein-bait or cue-lure traps; bag fruits; remove and destroy all fallen fruit; apply spinosad-based bait spray

Adults and larvae scrape leaf surface, leaving a windowed or skeletonised appearance that stresses the plant Hand-pick beetles and egg clusters; neem oil spray; encourage ground beetles as predators

Larvae tunnel winding pale trails through leaves, reducing photosynthesis and making foliage unmarketable Remove and destroy heavily mined leaves; use yellow sticky traps to monitor adults; avoid broad-spectrum insecticides that kill parasitoid wasps

Yellow stippling and fine webbing on leaf undersides; severe in hot, dry weather; weakens vines Increase humidity and irrigation; spray with neem oil or dilute insecticidal soap; introduce predatory mites